Beneath a Blue Sky
by Araceil
Summary: Naruto didn't need 'em. Any of 'em. He had a friend, one who would stick by him, come thick or thin. And even though they're on different teams now, that will never change. Epic Length. Important AN in Chapter 3, please read.
1. Beneath a Blue Sky

**Summary:** Naruto didn't need 'em. Any of 'em. He had a friend, one who would stick by him, come thick or thin. And even though they're on different teams now, that will never change. Two-shot.

**I.**

Naruto had been in the orphanage for as long as he could remember. The Matron was cold, and brusque, but she made sure he got good food, warm clothes, a bed, and a bath, every day. She kept him safe when angry people came storming through the halls. She ushered him away from the cold eyes of people when they came to adopt the other children.

But he could never hate her for being a little rougher than she should have been, for being a little sharper than she was with the others, for just... for just not liking him as much as the other children. He couldn't hate her, or dislike her. Even when she got into the sake.

Because she brought his first ever friend.

He was tiny, wearing clothes that weren't his, were too big, and worn, and stained to be his. She pulled him by the hand, looking increasingly harried as she checked every room and found it full. Every room but his. And with a put-upon sigh, she gently pushed the smaller child forward.

"Uzumaki, this is Miura. He's your responsibility now. See that you take care of him. Miura, if you have any problems, just tell me. Kaoru will give you the full work up tomorrow morning.

"Welcome to Konoha Little Leaf Orphanage."

**II.**

His name was Hotaru. Miura Hotaru.

He had thick black hair just as spiky as Naruto's. He had big green eyes, like the sweet-grass that was outside the gates. His skin was white, like those flowers in the park, but pinker.

He had a kickass scar on his head too. Like a lightning bolt. But not cooler than whiskers.

**III.**

Hotaru had nightmares. Horrible nightmares.

But he never screamed. Just woke up with a sharp gasp, and a stifled sob.

It became routine before too long, that Naruto would stay up until he heard Hotaru escape whatever horrors he saw behind his eyelids. He would climb out of bed, dragging his ratty pillow along with him, and crawl into Hotaru's futon. The two of them would curl up, hugging their pillows.

They would always wake up hugging one another instead.

**IV.**

One of the other children was adopted. Matron was moving Hotaru into that room – away from Naruto.

And, as usual, Naruto stayed up, staring at the ceiling even though he couldn't hear Hotaru anywhere near him. Even though if he was caught out of bed he would be given the cane. He still stayed up, even though he didn't have to. He just couldn't sleep.

And then, like usual only reversed, Hotaru slipped into his room, shivering, cheeks wet, clutching his pillow, and crawled into his futon. The two of them falling asleep almost immediately.

**V.**

Matron didn't like it, but she seemed to accept the fact that Hotaru had become attached to Naruto, and moved him back to where he belonged. Naruto worked extra hard on his thank you picture for her.

She had the queerest look on her face when he presented it to her, along with Hotaru who quietly explained how Naruto had drawn the house, and the field, and the trees, while he had drawn the flowers, and the sun. They were good flowers. Really pretty. Orange and blue.

Matron put it on the picture wall.

It was the first time that anything he'd drawn managed to make it to the wall, and Naruto spent the rest of the week beaming proudly whenever he saw it.

**VI.**

Naruto hates school. He knows he would hate it more if he didn't have Hotaru though, so he keeps quiet and does his best. And while he falters in the classroom, while he bites his tongue, and tries not to cry as the Sensei cruelly mocks him, calling him stupid, and slow, and encouraging the other children to do the same, Hotaru watches with pained eyes from the otherside of the room (Sensei had separated them, claiming that Hotaru would be happier closer to the board, as he's clearly more intelligent).

Naruto is the only one who sees Hotaru surreptitiously pour superglue on the sensei's chair, his sweet-grass eyes glittering poisonously with protective anger.

**VII.**

Naruto gets blamed for the glue, and Hotaru is almost beside himself in tears, apologising as they walk home. It's enough for Naruto to dig into his pockets, and buy his friend an icecream from one of the out-of village vendors to calm him down (even at four he knows better than to try the Konoha shops).

It works, Hotaru sniffles and stops crying. Though his cheeks are puffy, and red, and cute like an upset chipmonk, as he eats the sweet potato flavoured treat.

And Naruto pats himself on the back for being a good big brother, never noticing a hard glint appearing in his friend's eye.

**VIII.**

Sensei falls down the stairs, and breaks his leg the next day.

**IX.**

Ine-sensei is much nicer. She cheerfully guides them through their numbers, and letters. She sings songs, and reads stories out to them. Naruto is thrilled when the main character of The Utterly Gutsy Shinobi has the same name as him.

He decides that he likes Ine-sensei best. She lets him sit next to Hotaru, and doesn't scowl and yank his arm really hard when its naptime, and Naruto sleeps with Hotaru on his futon to stop the nightmares. She doesn't spit in his milk before handing it out either, and when he comes in with a sore throat, she even adds a dollop of golden coloured sweet stuff she called honey, and a brownish powder that smells awesome, and tastes just as nice, called cinnamon, to help him feel better.

No one comments when Sensei doesn't come back after the month they were told he would be away for.

Everyone prefers Ine-sensei anyway.

**X.**

There's a huge uproar in the village.

Naruto clings tightly to Hotaru as the two of them wait in Jiji's office while the Masked Niichans, and Neechans rush around, going in and out, through the windows and doors. All talking quickly to Jiji, some of them only use sign language that neither of them have learned, while others use soft voices and confusing code.

All the while, the two orphans sit on the large sofa in their nondescript orphanage issue pyjamas, rubbing sleep out of their eyes.

No one tells them what's going on, or why Jiji is so angry. They just yawn, and allow Inu-niichan to scoop them both up and carry them back to the orphanage. They're both asleep before they get there, and Kakashi can't help but think they're ridiculously adorable as he tucks them into their Futons – both of which have been shoved beside one another.

He pauses a moment and watches as Naruto reaches out, latching onto his friend, and dragging him across the space dividing them in his sleep. Neither of them rouse at all when he chuckles quietly and leaves through the still open window.

It's a shame he can't tease them about it.

**XI.**

Matron is drinking again.

Naruto knows to hide when this happens. He bundles both himself, and Hotaru into one of the airing cupboards in the attic. They're wrapped up in a mountain of blankets and tucked snugly behind the water boiler. It's almost too warm. But it's dark, and it's safe. And Matron won't find them. Which is important.

She didn't do this often. But she did it often enough for Naruto to fear it, and take steps to avoid it.

In the dark, he rummaged for the packets of cup-ramen he had hidden in the blankets. He peeled back the lid and began to eat it raw, Hotaru following his example. They would have a bad tummy ache, but better a tummy ache on a full stomach, than bruises, an empty belly, and falling asleep in Ine-sensei's lessons. If they did, the nurse would find the bruises, and Matron would be even more upset.

**XII.**

Jiji is talking about the Ninja Academy. Naruto really, really wants to go. Hotaru isn't quite as certain. He's giving Jiji the stink eye, as if he didn't trust him, and he's speaking slowly, choosing his words like he does with the Vendors in the market.

Eventually, it's decided that they're both going. And Jiji is smiling really big and happy as he gives Naruto a hug goodbye, and bows his head respectfully at Hotaru, who's still giving him the stink-eye, but bows back because that's polite.

Inu-niichan's shoulders are shaking with silent laughter.

**XIII.**

It's the week before they're going to the Academy, Matron's got into the sake again, and Naruto and Hotaru have been bundled in the airing cupboard for two days now. They sneak out once a day in order to tip the jug of pee out of the window and into the guttering and drain pipes, but they've run out of ramen, and Hotaru's so thirsty his pee is brown, and he doesn't look good.

Naruto's scared.

The first day was nice. They were all bundled up, and they told each other stories about how they imagined their families, what kind of Ninja they were going to be, and what they would be when they grew up. They spent long stretches of time just curled up together, and Naruto decided he really liked Hotaru's hair. It smelt really nice and was all soft and fluffy and nice on his skin as he rubbed his cheek against it.

The second day started okay, but it got worse.

And now Hotaru was sleeping, his breath really hot and his lips dry and weird to the touch. That wasn't a good sign. That had happened to Naruto before. He knew it was real bad. He had to get Hotaru something to drink, quickly.

So he braved the outside.

He snuck into the bathroom and used one of the toothbrush cups to bring his friend some water.

No sooner had he managed to get it into him, than Matron appeared, smelling strongly of sake, her face red, and her teeth bared.

**XIV.**

Living outside was cold, and Naruto didn't like it.

Hotaru hadn't been thrown out with him. Matron had locked him up in the attic with an angry sneer saying that if he liked it up there so much, he could stay there until he rotted. Naruto however, wasn't welcome under her roof – so he wouldn't be under it anymore. She kicked him out of the door, sending him sprawling into the dirt, before slamming the door behind him.

The next morning, Hotaru found him, his little hands were bloody though, and there were glass shards between his fingers. Naruto felt guilty about the amount of relief coursing through him. Hotaru hadn't abandoned him!

**XV.**

Jiji gave them a flat. Between the two of them, they had it looking nice. Inu-niichan even bought them furniture and moved it where Hotaru directed after they'd finished painting. Naruto wanted everything in orange, but got firmly slapped upside the head. The kitchen was a pale sunshine yellow with blue curtains. The living room was terracotta red with a brown sofa, and three bookcases (Naruto looked at Hotaru like he was a crazy man when he demanded these items). The bedroom, which they were sharing, was a nice pale green with a blue ceiling. They had requested a double bed and got a really nice wooden one and a pair of desks to match. Several wicker baskets were tucked under it full of clothes. And a sliding cupboard as well. The bathroom was white.

At least Naruto won the argument about the bedroom curtains having cup-ramen printed on them. He didn't listen to a single word Hotaru told him about it being lame. Nothing with ramen on it could be lame!

**XVI.**

Ninja Academy was not _better_ than Ine-sensei's class, but it wasn't as bad as Sensei's class either.

Umino-sensei was fair, and Naruto liked that. But his eyes were frosty when he looked at him. He didn't do anything, or treat him bad, or even punish him harder than the other students, he didn't even ignore him, or try to separate him from Hotaru. His eyes were just a little cold.

Naruto supposed that would be the best he got for now. But at least Hotaru was next to him. And luckily he was left-handed, otherwise they wouldn't be able to hold hands under the table.

**XVII.**

Morse code was awesome!

Naruto grinned broadly as Hotaru tapped out the answer to Umino-sensei's question while Naruto pretended to hem, and haw over it. Naruto's reading wasn't so good, and he was never one for sitting still and listening to lectures. He preferred it when at the end of the day Hotaru would tell him stories when they were in bed. It would be the same stuff that Naruto learned in class, but he would remember it better when he could connect to it easier.

So he learned all about how the Shodai Hokage went against his father's demands, and ideals to found the village. The very first Ninja village. How he gathered all the other clans, how he even accepted all the Uchiha as they slowly trickled in – having abandoned their Clan Head Uchiha Madara, who stubbornly refused to join Konoha after the Nidaime caused his younger brother's, Uchiha Izuna, death. How eventually, the Shodai managed to convince Madara to join. And they made Konoha great together. Until something changed in Madara, and he challenged the Shodai to an epic battle that altered the very maps of the Elemental Nations, creating the Valley of End – a deep canyon on the outskirts of Fire country leading into Rice.

He learned about how the Shodai tried to prevent the First Great Shinobi War by splitting up the Bijuu and distributing them throughout the Elemental nations. Keeping only the Kyuubi for Konoha. How his hopes for peace crumbled as the other, newly established Hidden Villages sought to wage war.

Hotaru told him epic tales about the Niidaime's tactical genius in the First Shinobi War. How he kept the village afloat even with Kumogakure's best breathing at their gates, how he pretty much _wrote_ the Scroll on Ninja tactics. How he formed the Uchiha Police, and ordered the creation of ANBU to carry out Black Ops missions the village couldn't afford to have their names attached to. How he gave his life fighting Kumo's Kinkaku Team so his Shinobi, and Genin team could escape.

How Sarutobi Hiruzen, their Third Hokage, was named his successor that day.

Hotaru learned from Umino-sensei.

Naruto learned from Hotaru.

And Hotaru gave him answers during class, and tests, so that Umino-sensei wouldn't shout at him before he could learn the subject material that night.

It wasn't perfect.

But it was good enough.

**XVIII.**

Naruto found it very hard not to admire Sakura-chan.

She was very smart, and pretty. She had pale minty-green eyes, and hair the colour of flower petals. She smelt like lily, and wisteria and wore clean clothes without holes or patches. She had a pretty giggle, and he liked that she had a high hairline – it just showed that she had a big brain and was lots smarter than he was.

But, he'd seen the way she chased after Uchiha Sasuke along with Yamakana-chan, and how sad she got when he snapped at her. So he always made a big deal out of her, shouting her name, cooing over how awesome she was, asking her out on dates to Ichiraku. Just to get that sad look out of her eyes. Pretty green eyes shouldn't look like that.

And when she shouted, and screamed, and glared at him with that familiar fire in her gaze, Naruto grinned and patted himself on the back (being careful of the bruises she gave him). Because green eyes should never look sad. It made something cold and unpleasant fizzle in his stomach.

Hotaru just shook his head, an odd look on his face as he read his book.

**XIX.**

It didn't take Hotaru long to figure out that Mizuki-sensei was teaching them the wrong Taijutsu forms. Or that every incident that occurred in the classroom he pinned on Naruto, he didn't share those observations though. But it drove the blond nuts enough as it was, he didn't need to know that it was on purpose. Not that it didn't stop him from deciding to get his own back anyway – playing increasingly malicious pranks on the Chuunin sensei.

Hotaru had to reign him in more than once to stop some of those pranks from being outright cruel.

**XX.**

Sexy no Jutsu was awesome, he had only just finished developing it and Hotaru was the first person to see it.

His bestfriend went scarlet and started shouting, "Never put that Henge on again!" he screeched furiously leaping up and yanking on a pigtail. Naruto yelped and released the transformation out of reflex, whinging as his bestfriend tugged brutally on his hair.

"Taru! Knock it off!" he snapped, trying to shove his taller friend off.

"Not until you swear you'll never do that again!"

"Why?" Naruto demanded unhappily, "Oiroke no Jutsu is awesome!"

"Because there are perverts out there! And if you're running around in a naked girl Henge they'll target you!" the green eyed boy snarled, kicking Naruto's feet out from under him causing them both to tumble onto the floor, the taller of the pair sitting on top of the Jinchuuriki's stomach and continuing his merciless hair pulling. "Promise me, Naruto!"

"But it's SUPPOSED to get Perverts!" Naruto yelled, trying to throw his friend off. But Hotaru had always been better at Taijutsu, better at pretty much everything except the stamina and strength tests.

"What?" Uh oh, Hotaru was really mad!

"Its supposed to attracted perverts! They'll die from nosebleeds before they can lay a finger on me!" he exclaimed, trying to sooth his friend's temper. Hotaru was nowhere near as hotheaded as Naruto, but when he lost it, it was _not_ pretty. Kiba learned that one the hard way when he ended up in the Hospital clinic after Hotaru pretty much ripped him apart during Taijutsu practice.

"And what if they don't! Huh! Did you think of that, Mr Smarty-pants?" Hotaru screamed in his face. "Just because you're a boy don't think they won't rape you just as easily as they would a girl!"

Naruto blanched at this, his stomach flipping uncomfortably as he remembered one of the few festivals gone past – they'd mastered the Henge technique in class barely a week earlier and thought that if they hid who they were, they could attend the Festival like normal kids. Hotaru nearly got dragged down an alleyway by a drunkard before Inu-niichan appeared and knocked him out. Naruto hadn't known about it at all until his bestfriend was returned to him later that night at bedtime, shaking violently and tearstained having just been at the Hospital as a precautionary check up. The full dangers and reality of that night were explained to him by the Medic Nin and for a month afterwards Hotaru with flinch when startled, and never strayed out of arms reach of Naruto save when they were in the toilets.

"I promise," he whispered. "I promise I won't use it around anyone I don't trust completely," he said. "It was... It was meant to be a prank Jutsu," he explained softly.

Hotaru just hugged him tightly.

**XXI.**

He failed.

How could he have...

Hotaru was squirming through the crowds of parents congratulating their children, his shiny Hitai-ate catching the sunlight, and something ugly and heavy flipped over in his stomach. Naruto didn't want to look at him. He ran, and Hotaru lost him over the rooftops, unable to get out of the crush fast enough.

His friend deserved to be a Genin. He had worked so hard, and even taught Naruto as well. He was only holding his friend back. If Hotaru hadn't been forced to pick up after him all the time he probably could have graduated years earlier and become an awesome Ninja by now. He sniffed dully as he plopped himself down on the roof, feeling very sorry for himself. He of course knew that Hotaru wouldn't see it that way, he was Naruto's bestfriend, his brother. Even if he had been as stupid as Dog-breath he would have done his best to help Naruto, because Hotaru was just... he was so much better than Naruto could ever hope to be. Smarter, and nicer.

He didn't know what he'd done to deserve such a friend.

He just... he just wished they could have been Ninja together...

"Hey, Naruto. You got a sec?" Mizuki called from down below.

**XXII.**

Kyuubi. That... that was the whole reason...

When he got back home that night, he found the apartment empty, the kitchen table had the remnants of dinner for two – one untouched, the other half eaten. Hotaru must have gone running out when he heard that Naruto had taken the scroll. Guilt stung him, along with terror. Would his friend leave, and turn his back if Naruto told him the truth? No, no Hotaru could _never_ find out about the Kyuubi! He wasn't allowed! If he knew, Naruto would never see him again!

So when his bestfriend burst through the door, immediately rushing over and exclaiming over his injuries, he didn't say anything. Didn't try to explain or tell him the truth of what happened. And Hotaru let him. There was an understanding look on those green eyes as he sat Naruto down on the toilet and rummaged in their first aid box.

He never asked.

Naruto didn't ask about the bruise that discoloured the entire left side of his face in mottled green and purple, or the bandages around his wrist. He just took extra care when they crawled into bed not to jar it, and clung tightly to his bestfriend.

Terrified he would vanish if Naruto told him the truth.

**XXIII.**

Konohamaru was an utter pain in the ass. Hotaru thought he was hilarious and laughed until his stomach hurt at his hero-worship of Naruto. He gave passing thought to teaching the irritating Gaki the Oiroke no Jutsu in revenge, but knew that Hotaru would string him up by his ears in the women's bath if he even tried it. Konohamaru was just a kid, he had almost zero Shinobi training. He wasn't ready to be exposed to that level of adult-content, and nor would he be able to defend himself if someone took the Oiroke the wrong way.

Instead, they disguised a few lessons as games of Ninja and bought the kid a drink.

It seemed as though he had managed to collect himself another younger brother by the way the little brat reacted to his words. Rival, pfft, yeah right. Maybe in a few years. Until then, he was just his adorable kid-brother.

**XXIV.**

Genin Team selection!

Naruto decided that this was the day he would get serious and ask Sakura-chan to be his girlfriend. He even had a fool-proof plan to learn her opinion about him before he even asked. All he had to do was jump Sasuke, tie him up somewhere inconspicuous, and Henge into him so he could talk seriously with Sakura-chan without getting a knuckle sandwich.

He excitedly told all of his plans to Hotaru the night before. An odd expression crossed his face as he pointed out that deceiving their classmate wasn't very nice, and if either of them found out, they would be quite upset. And... "Are you really sure you want to know what Haruno-san thinks of you, Ruto? She... she can be quite cruel about others when trying to impress Uchiha-san. Maybe you should choose someone else to Henge into," he pointed out gently.

But Naruto wouldn't have any of it. He was going to beat that Uchiha bastard. And besides, Sakura-chan might even give him a kiss if she thought he was Sasuke. Hotaru merely huffed quietly and rolled over, facing the wall, muttering under his breath. Naruto grinned fondly at him, he knew his friend was trying to watch out for him, but it would be fine! Tomorrow was going to be the best day of his life!

Not a single word was said the following morning by the green eyed boy as the Jinchuuriki chugged the out of date milk as if it were going out of style, loudly proclaiming he needed his strength.

**XXV.**

"Next, Team Seven. Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke - " Iruka paused as the girl screamed in delight, shouting a crass '_In your face Ino-Pig!_' at the Yamanaka Clan heir, "- And Uzumaki Naruto," he finished dryly. Naruto jumped up with a shout of equal glee that easily drowned out the soft sound that was remarkably like a mouse getting trodden on from Miura-kun. Iruka had to fight to keep the wince off his face when he spotted the other preteen's face. The Miura-Naruto pair had never been separated before unless by those who had a particular hatred of Naruto (Mizuki taking every chance to pull them apart _should_ have been a clue! How could he have been so oblivious?).

But Naruto didn't notice his friend's distress, too busy cheering happily at getting onto the same team as his Crush.

Miura quickly pasted on a smile when the blond turned to him happily to point out he got on the same team as 'the awesome Sakura-chan'. It was almost painful to watch Naruto be completely oblivious to his bestfriend's upset, and how Miura never let him see how much his behaviour hurt.

Iruka sighed quietly wondering how on earth Naruto could be so oblivious before continuing with the Team assignments.

**XXVI.**

"Absolutely not!" Iruka paused, frowning at the violet haired girl. Inoue Azami, as prickly as her namesake (Thistle), and the daughter of the Merchant Guild's head. It gave her an advantage in her Kunoichi grades, seeing as she could already act like more of a lady than even some Geisha trained Kunoichi, it also made her maths, and Geography grades mightily impressive. But it did nothing for her attitude. Silver spoon didn't even come close.

"Is there a problem?" he asked frostily. She should know that by now he did not appreciate being ordered by someone of lower rank without good reason.

"I refuse to be in a team with that monster's pet abomination!" she declared, pointing at Miura-kun. "My father would hit the roof!"

Iruka scowled, "Well then, its a good thing he has absolutely no say in Shinobi affairs, Inoue-san," he pointed out sharply. "Now, sit down. Team placements are designed to create the most balanced team possible. Team Seven for example, Sasuke is the Rookie of the Year, he has the highest marks in all areas. Sakura may have failed on her physical marks, but her academics are exemplary. Naruto, though I know he is quite skilled, scored the lowest in the class because his areas of expertise are not tested field – something I have been trying to change for years." Everyone knew how much importance Iruka-sensei put into Stealth, Trap, and Infiltration. But unfortunately, they weren't tested subjects, which he, like every other Chuunin, and Jounin, thought was really bloody stupid. "Sasuke and Sakura are there to cover the bases that Naruto falls at. Sakura is there to cover the bases that Sasuke falls at. And even though it wasn't designed like that, Naruto will be better at guarding their backs than either of them."

Sasuke scoffed dismissively. "Don't sneer, Sasuke," Iruka reprimanded him mildly, "Not just anyone can give the village ANBU a run for their money.

"Now, before I was interrupted," he continued, shooting a _Look_ at Inoue-san who thankfully subsided into silence. "Team Three, Inoue Azami, Miura Hotaru, Tanaka Minato. Your Sensei is Temarei Hisoka, he'll be by to pick you up after Lunch."

**XXVII.**

Hotaru didn't even get a chance to talk to Naruto before he was rushing off to implement his master plan to talk to Haruno. He tried to tell himself that it didn't matter, that he would catch him when they were at home. But even he knew he was lying, and his chest hurt. It seemed as though the moment Haruno became a more prominent fixture in Naruto's life, Hotaru was shunted out to make space for her.

"I'm not eating with him!" Inoue was sneering, roughly shaking Tanaka-san's hand away.

"But we're a team, Azami-san," Tanaka-san protested.

"Not for long!" the girl snapped, "My Father will remove the guild from Konoha if they don't change the team placements. I don't want anything to do with that thing." Thing huh... Not human... Maybe he wasn't. After all, it seemed as though not even Naruto wanted- … it seemed as though not even Uzumaki-san wanted to be his friend anymore, now that someone better had come along.

He went to one of the break-rooms to eat his lunch and paused in the doorway. Uchiha-san glared up at him from where he was hogtied on the ground. For a moment, Hotaru contemplated leaving him there. He didn't feel particularly charitable right now. But...

He sighed and set his lunch box down, kneeling beside the Uchiha and making short work of the ropes.

"I'm sorry about this Uchiha-san," he said as he removed the ropes locking his ankles together.

"What is that idiot doing?" the dark eyed boy snarled, pulling the tape from his mouth.

Hotaru sighed, "Reconnaissance. He wants to ask Haruno-san to be his girlfriend, properly. Not screaming for dates and making a big fuss so she'll cheer up like before. He's quite serious. He is asking her opinion of him while wearing a Henge. He knows she won't be honest about her feelings if she is speaking to his face. Unfortunately, he did not believe me when I said that she would be extra critical of everyone when speaking to you," he explained simply as he stepped back from the Uchiha and collected his bentou.

Sasuke watched as the Dobe's bestfriend quietly started to eat his lunch, there was something odd about the way he spoke, almost... "You're... jealous?" he asked in bewildered disgust.

Green eyed peered up at him before he shrugged dismissively. "Naruto has been my best, and only friend for years. It isn't unnatural to be jealous when you find yourself being completely thrown aside for a girl who won't even give him the time of day," he explained simply as he steadily worked his way through his rice, eyes shut.

The taller boy stared at him as if he'd grown another head, "And you're... not angry, about this?" he asked.

"Being angry won't do me a blind lick of good," the orphan pointed out bluntly. "If fact, it'll probably make things worse." He cracked open an eye, "If I get angry, I'll say, or do something, that'll make my friendship completely insalvageable. Not the outcome I want."

Sasuke hummed, frowning. He was tempted to go and confront the Dobe, he was angry. But Miura was also kind of right. Being angry wasn't going to help him here. And he was going to have to work with the Dobe for a long time until they reached Chuunin and he could get reassigned. So, instead of getting up and running to go and deal with him, Sasuke sat peaceably opposite his classmate and finished off the water and Onigiri he hadn't been able to before he got jumped.

There were worse ways to spend his lunch break, he decided. Miura was a surprisingly pleasant balm to his temper. He would have to do this again.

**XXVIII.**

"Team three, you're with me," their Jounin called, leaning against the door frame, arms folded.

Temarei Hisoka wasn't tall. He stood at an all together underwhelming 5'6" in height, wore the standard Jounin uniform, he had pale skin, high cheekbones, and dark eyes. The only unusual thing about him was that he had long hair, pulled back into a no-nonsense horse tail at the back of his head.

The three Genin tottered after their Sensei, Naruto pausing only briefly to give Naruto a wave – not that he noticed, too busy trying to talk to Haruno. Hotaru dropped his hand, and caught Uchiha-san's eye, he nodded politely and received one back before they left the classroom. Maybe he wasn't as much of an asshole now that he was a Genin than when he felt he had something to prove?

Temarei-sensei led them to the swing set outside and took a seat, gesturing for them to sit down on the grass.

"Right, well, introductions first I guess. You know my name, what you don't know is what my specialities and hobbies are, what I like and what I don't like. We'll cover those in a bit but I'd like to hear whom I'm working with. If you would please, Inoue-kun, your name, likes, dislikes, and what your future goal is. Not whom you'd like to marry, but your goal as a Ninja. Anything you want to add is fine," the dark haired Jounin allowed. He had a nice voice, smoky, not quite deep, nor very high, Hotaru got the impression he could pitch his voice any which way he pleased, which was undoubtedly useful on Infiltration, or Information Gathering missions. He would have to see if he couldn't cultivate the same vocal range.

The violet haired girl nodded, puffing her non-existent chest out. Hotaru didn't think she was trying to draw attention to her under-developed breasts, but that was the result of her action.

"My name is Inoue Azami, I'm named because of my hair colour which I got from my Okaasan. I like Traditional Fan Dances, making Kimono and Furisode in my spare time, butterflies, and katana. I dislike ruffians, delinquents," she said all this while glaring over at Hotaru, he didn't even flick and eyelid, knowing that was what she wanted, "Garlic, and Nattou, gross. My Ninja goal is to become ANBU Captain like my Aunt!" she boasted, thumping her chest arrogantly.

Temarei-sensei nodded idly, "Miura-kun, you next."

"Miura Hotaru. Training, friends, and reading. I hate wilfully ignorant morons, bigots, and hypocrites. My goal... I haven't thought about it. I don't know yet," he stated flatly, never one to really talk about himself. If his Teammates want to get to know him, then they could take the time to be his friend first. Besides, he never trusted anyone right off the bat. And while everything he said was true, they weren't _personal_.

It may have been his imagination, but a spark of approval glinted in their Sensei's dark eyes, before he turned to the last teammate. "Tanaka-kun, please enlighten us."

The aqua haired boy smiled brightly, "My name's Tanaka Minato, I was named after the Yondaime 'cause my Mum went to the Academy with him and had a huge ass crush on him. I like sweets, especially Anmitsu, and Peach Mochi. And my kid sister Yumiko, she's three months old now!" he laughed in delight, "I don't like bitter things, like coffee, and while Iruka-sensei tried, I never really liked History, or Geography because it was real hard paying attention. He lectures. It's super boring. My Ninja Goal is to be as awesome as Hatake Kakashi!" he exclaimed excitedly, not catching the way Sensei rolled his eyes at the last comment.

"Fascinating," Temarei-sensei drawled, "Well, you two just failed," he declared, making both Inoue and Tanaka gape and splutter.

"Fail what?" Inoue screeched.

Temarei-sensei eyed her in a deadpan, "Information is power, little girl. You just told me your Aunt was an ANBU. I can now use you as leverage against her. In fact, I now know _exactly_ who she is based entirely on what you've just told me. I know how to get your attention, keep it, lead you off, and how to drug your food." He turned to Tanaka who had by this point become chalk white, his brown eyes wide and dominating his face, Temarei-sensei nodded, "I can see that you understand." Tanaka nodded, still shaking.

"Out of the three of you, only Miura-kun refrained from giving me personal information while still telling the truth. Though I suppose you've gotten used to keeping everything close to the chest," he added with a dismissive wave of his hand. He sighed and pushed himself to his feet, "Alright kiddies, last chance. I know that test wasn't fair and you're taught right from the off to trust your Superior Officers and fellow Konoha Ninja. So...

"The Genin test you took in the Academy was just to see if you had the capacity to become a Genin. It was for weeding out the weakest of the weak. This test, is whether or not you meet _my_ standards of Genin. You pass the test, you become my team, and I will dedicate myself to making you the strongest little bastards this side of Suna." Hotaru's eyes widened. This side of Suna? That was a lot of ground to cover. And almost every named country. Talk about an exaggeration.

"Your mission is this: Find out about me. You have twenty four hours. Meet back here, at this time tomorrow with your findings, as well as a full report of how you went about learning what you have. Don't be late. If one of you fails, you all fail."

And he was gone.

**XXIX.**

Bars and bathhouses. The two best places to gather gossip.

Three minutes, some matt-effect acid on his shiny Hitai-ate, a few scratches with a kunai, pulling his hair under the bandana, touch of make-up, and Hotaru was stalking through the Susanoo as if he belonged there. With the make-up, he looked like a short Chuunin, so no one batted an eye when he sat at the bar and requested a jug of warm Ginjo sake.

A brief glance at his well-worn Hitai-ate convinced the barman to fetch the drink without comment.

He didn't sip the drink. He'd seen Matron enough to know that you poured a small mouthful into your dish and knocked it back like a shot. Especially with Ginjo. It wasn't nearly sweet enough for sipping. It tasted like how Nail varnish remover smelt. Unless he wanted to end up choking and coughing like a green horn, thus giving himself away, he had to act like it went down smooth.

It didn't, but thankfully the dark lighting hid his momentary shudder.

After that, he listened.

**XXX.**

Azami asked her mother, who then asked her aunt. Who told them it was none of their business and if she wanted to pass Temarei's test, she would have to do the work herself, not use her family connections.

Azami pouted and meandered off into the village market, hopefully Ino would know something about the man. She'd seen her storming off from the BBQ place on her way home.

**XXXI.**

Minato went into the Missions office and asked to take a peek at the public records.

**XXXII.**

Naruto waited up as late as he dared for Hotaru to get home. He even bought celebratory Ichiraku ramen home for them to share, but... he never showed up. He wanted to ask him what his Sensei was like and if they had to have some bullshit test as well. He'd seen Sasuke nod at his bestfriend as he left and realised he must have not noticed Hotaru saying goodbye – he always did. But it was too late to say his own goodbye, Hotaru was already outside the door and if he yelled, Sakura-chan would hit him because he was right next to her, and she had delicate ears.

So, even though it was almost a cardinal _sin_, Naruto put Hotaru's portion of ramen in the fridge. He took a shower, got into some fresh pyjamas, and crawled into bed. He spent an hour tossing and turning uncomfortably and unhappily. It was too big and cold without his friend. The room was quiet and the shadows uncomfortably deep.

He ended up having to curl up around one of the pillows just to get some rest.

The next morning when his alarm went off, Naruto found his friend right where he belonged, curled up against him, scowling blearily at the alarm which read the revolting number of 4.30AM. Naruto promptly glomped his bestfriend, squishing him into a tight hug, snickering at the sleepy '_gek_' sound he made.

"Why are we up so early, Ruto?" he asked sleepily, burying his face into the shorter boy's neck, fingers hooking into his pyjamas. Naruto grinned and squeezed him even tighter, prompting that same '_Gek_' sound, only longer, more of a '_Guoof_' instead.

"I got my test with Kakashi-sensei at six," the Jinchuuriki boasted, "So I gotta get ready!"

Hotaru made a sound of frustration in the back of his throat and Naruto couldn't help but grin and squeeze him again. Hotaru really hated mornings. He was barely functioning in time for the Academy, Naruto had to lead him through the streets on some mornings because he was literally sleep walking.

They stayed quiet for a bit, and Naruto was fairly certain Hotaru had fallen asleep on him. Idly Naruto wondered if Kakashi-sensei would get upset if he showed up late, after all, he would just be returning the favour. But then his friend sat up and untangled himself with a mutinous glower, Naruto had to grin as he stumbled off towards the bathroom where he would stick his head under the cold tap. It was pretty much the only way to wake him up some mornings.

After that, Hotaru forced him to eat a decent breakfast, telling him that if he didn't eat, then he was going to sit on him and cram it down his throat – whether he choked on it or not was up to him. Remembering the _last_ time Naruto had refused to eat (vegetables! Why would Hotaru do something like buy vegetables?!), he had followed through on that threat and Naruto ended up needing the Heinrich manoeuvre after he gagged on a bit of carrot. He never took Hotaru's threats idly ever since.

"Taru..." Naruto muttered, grabbing his friend's attention from whatever it was he was writing in his notebook. "You know... you're still my best friend. Just because we're in different teams now... it doesn't mean I'm going to stop caring," he explained, looking up anxiously at his friend.

Hotaru smiled at him, "I know, Ruto. Even if we can't be teammates, we're still roommates, and friends."

"I know. It's just... I know what you're like... You're such a pessimist that you'll end up thinking I don't want to be your friend anymore. And You'll get all worked up and sad and do something drastic like run away."

Hotaru studiously avoided eye contact, face steadily turning red because he _had_ been thinking that yesterday. Until he found a portion of Ichiraku ramen in the fridge. He knew better almost immediately upon seeing that. If Naruto hadn't have cared, he would have eaten it himself.

**XXXIII.**

"Inoue-kun, go." Team Three were back at the Academy swing, giving the results of their Information gathering.

"Uhm, I went to the market place and poked around a bit. You like sweet-fruits, like apples, tangerines, peaches, and melon. Shopping day is Thursday, its the only day you come to the Market. Uhm, you love lamb, and chicken and you know all the elderly by name. Your mother used to own a Cafe until she passed away. She wasn't from Konoha. That's all I got," the Merchant's Daughter explained hesitantly, not sure if it was enough information to pass the test. And Sensei may as well have been a sphinx because his face gave nothing away.

"Tanaka-kun?" he asked, turning to the next child in the group, Temarei-sensei had made a point of observing each of his students, and he knew that Hotaru had more information than both of them. Heck, he had seen what the boy had done to get it and found himself thoroughly impressed. So very few people thought to scuff their Hitai-ate up, and most Genin were positively _fastidious_ in keeping them shiny and clean – not realising it pinpointed them as greenhorns immediately, and the shine made them a liability in the field. Even now, Inoue-kun's headband was catching the light and in half an hour that shine was likely to be directly in his eyes.

"Name: Temarei Hisoka. Birthdate: April 23. Gender: Male. Age: Twenty six. Height: 170.6cm. Weight: 56kg. Bloodtype: AB-. Kekkei Genkai: None registered. Total Missions: 1142, 31 of which are S-ranked. Rank five in Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Intelligence, and Speed. Four-point-five in Taijutsu, and Handseal speed. And Rank three in Strength and Stamina. I checked the public records in the Hokage Tower," the aqua haired boy explained with a proud smile.

Sensei nodded approvingly. "Miura-kun, you now."

Hotaru straightened, trying not to show his nervousness. "I went to various bars throughout Konoha, listened to the gossip at the bathhouses, asked around at the records room, and... and at the Nara compound," he finished, eyeing his teacher warily. Temarei-sensei merely nodded and gestured at him to continue. There was no disapproval on his face.

Swallowing, he continued. "Your father was a member of the Nara clan. You were born out of wedlock to a civilian woman he slept with while on a mission. She came to Konoha in the hopes that he would recognise you but was turned away by the then Clan head, Nara Shikaru, as he had died during a mission not long before your arrival. He never knew. Your mother still settled in Konoha to raise you during the Third Great Shinobi War. You could have graduated early, but you held back on the understanding that your mentality wasn't yet mature enough for the front lines. You lost all your teammates in the war, including your sensei. Nara Shikaru-san passed away during the conflict and his son, Shikaku-san, allowed you to learn the Nara Shadow Jutsus as your birth right. But the clan elders refused to allow you use of the name.

"You're known as the Living Forge because your Fuuinjutsu skills are so highly ranked that you could be considered Konoha's last Fuuinjutsu Master. You had to blackmail the Council to remain an active Ninja instead of being squirrelled away in the Research and Development department. Also, because your skill with Ninjutsu rivals that of Hatake Kakashi with a major difference – he has copied every Jutsu he's ever seen, you've _mastered_ every Jutsu you've ever seen, and developed many more derivatives from them. Along with your own Taijutsu style."

Inoue and Tanaka were staring at him, and Temarei-sensei allowed a smile to crack his lips.

"Well. I'd say that's definitely a pass." He climbed to his feet, dusting himself off. "All three of you have gathered key information pieces. While what In- Azami-kun has gathered may be considered useless to a non-infiltrator, they're quite important. You not only discovered what foods I am most likely to take, but also what day I go shopping, along with the fact that I am a well known figure to various people who don't have the training to realise when they're being pumped for information. Just by impersonating one of those people, and offering my drugged food, you could perform quite the neat assassination.

"Minato-kun, general records are usually considered a pointless sheet of paper, but it does give some valuable information. You know from that information that I'm frighteningly fast, and good with both Genjutsu, and Ninjutsu. Things that you know you'll be looking out for during any future confrontation. Right? Not to mention, my Mission record speaks for itself. Just knowing these basics, you know to be wary of me.

"As for Hotaru-kun. I'm impressed. A lot of people overlook things as simple as gossip, and yes, the best places to go for it are the Baths, and Bars. Well done."

**XXXIV.**

D-ranks were an utter pain in the ass.

Both he and Naruto would often end up complaining bitterly about them over the breakfast table before heading out to meet their respective teams. For Naruto, this meant a further two hours of waiting. For Hotaru, it was warm-ups, immediately.

Hisoka-sensei was a harsh, but fair taskmaster. He explained why he was giving them each exercise and why it was important, he explained his reasoning, and would help them without prejudice when asked – no matter what it was. After they had been registered as his team proper, he took each of them aside for a chat. Hotaru didn't know what was said to the other two, but given how Azami was actually _nice_ to him when she returned, he could only assume it was absolutely life-changing to the violet haired girl.

For him, it was a general talk and some advice. He knew he was the only one on the team without a family, and Hisoka-sensei pretty much gave him carte-Blanche to come to him if there was _anything_ he needed help on. And given how he'd seen Azami scarlet faced, stuttering and admitting she needed some feminine hygiene products as she had, ahem, blossomed earlier than expected, all he'd done was nod hand her a packet of tissues and vanish. He was back within five minutes and carrying a paper bag. He took her aside elsewhere and Hotaru had no idea what happened next, just that Azami came back utterly crimson faced and mortified. Sensei looked the same as always, completely non-plussed.

He did wonder what had been said.

**XXXV.**

"Goddamnit, Ruto! If you hate him so much, then just ignore him, and keep training," Hotaru finally snapped, glaring at his blond friend. "Don't just complain about him. Get better than him! If you want, you can join my team for morning training. Hatake takes an age and a half to show up, right? Well I'm sure my sensei won't give a crap if he starts bitching like a toddler," the dark haired boy stated primly as he finished the last of his ramen.

Naruto snickered, "Kakashi-sensei, vs, Hisoka-sensei. That's be a fight worth seeing."

"Not really," Hotaru muttered rummaging in his pockets for the money to cover his meal. "Hatake is known for copying every Jutsu he's ever seen. But Hisoka-sensei is known for _mastering_ every Jutsu he's ever seen. There's a difference. The fight'd last the whole day, and they'd be heavily injured in the process, but if neither of them held back, Hisoka-sensei would win. There's no arguing about that."

Loyalty to his Sensei made Naruto want to argue, but he'd seen Hisoka-sensei when he got angry. It happened a few weeks ago when he met up with Hotaru in the market place after Kakashi-sensei let them off for the day. Hisoka-sensei had caught a civilian giving Naruto the stink eye and spitting at him. The killing intent that bathed the Market had ANBU from all over the village descending upon them like rain. Anyone under Chuunin rank was on the ground gagging for air, unable to breathe with their paralysed lungs.

That Jounin was a scary, scary guy.

**XXXVI.**

So Naruto joined them for morning training.

Azami was frosty in the beginning, but eventually warmed up to Naruto. It didn't hurt that he flattered her outrageously when she looked upset about a mess up during her Taijutsu training. Minato came out of his shell a little more and seemed to find amusement in poking a little good-natured fun at Naruto's shortcomings, poking that helped him improve at that.

Hisoka-sensei had no problem with the extra Genin, he pretty much admitted that it was sheer stupidity to separate Naruto from Hotaru as they were a well known duo and it had been confirmed that Hotaru was the only one able to reign the Jinchuuriki in aside from Iruka-sensei. But it didn't take long before Hatake-sensei was appearing in the middle of their training.

"Naruto, your punch is sloppy! Just because Azami is a girl, don't go easy on her!" the half-Nara Jounin called.

"OSSU!"

"You can stop lurking back there, Kakashi. What do you need?" the Jounin asked in an undertone, not moving from where he was leaning against a tree, observing the ickle Genin.

"I was wondering where my Cute little Genin is going in the mornings. I should have expected this. Those two are really close, aren't they?" the silver haired Jounin mused.

"Yes. The Administration are idiots for trying to separate them. Their dynamic is better than yours and Gai's in combat. They'll be quite the devastating pair in the future, if they get the right training now," the Fuuinjutsu master pointed out, tipping his head back against the wood.

"And you don't think I'm training him correctly?" There was a barely perceptible edge to the Jounin's voice.

Hisoka took no note. "No I don't. You're an outstanding Jounin, Kakashi. One of the best Konoha has ever seen. But you're not a normal Ninja, and you're an utterly terrible teacher. If you need time to yourself in the mornings, I'm happy to take all of Team Seven and add them to my training schedule. But you need to start putting the porn away and take a real hard look at your team. I know you plan on ditching them after they hit Chuunin, but by then, the damage will be done.

"Uzumaki-kun is not Obito. Haruno is not Rin. And the Uchiha is nothing like you. This _isn't_ your second chance with Team Minato. This is Team Seven, Team Kakashi. Stop trying to make them into people they aren't, and start paying attention to who they _are_."

"Sensei! Sensei, Azami broke her finger!"

Hisoka pushed himself away from the tree, not saying another word as he felt Kakashi linger and watch the rest of the training session. He would figure it out later. Kakashi was a smart guy, he just needed a kick in the right direction every now and again.

**XXXVII.**

Hotaru was fairly certain his eyebrows were somewhere far above his hairline as Naruto relayed the tail of his first C-rank, and just how badly it had gone. The Demon Brothers, Zabuza of the Mist, a member of the lost Yuki Clan? The fight on the bridge, how Inari-kun showed up in the nick of time with the rest of the Wave inhabitants to drive off Gatou's mercenaries, how Zabuza and his protégée had died and the lesson that Haku had taught him.

Naruto, sad, but still blushing, admitted that had things been different, he likely would have had a crush on the crossdressing Ninja – he was a _lot_ prettier than Sakura-chan, and really nice, and loyal too.

Hotaru blinked, "Crossdressing? I didn't know you were into that." Though it would explain why he liked Haruno. She did look like a man trying to crossdress.

Of course Naruto immediately started to loudly deny it, his face vivid red while Hotaru grinned mischeviously. "So you don't think I would look pretty in a girl's furisode, Ruto?" he teased, watching as, if it were even possible, the blond's face went an even deeper shade of red. He mouthed wordlessly and turned his attention back to his ramen, deciding that not answering was his safest option right now.

Hotaru laughed at him for the next hour until they went to bed. Naruto drew on him after he fell asleep. Let's see how he liked having marker lipstick and eyeliner.

It was his bad luck that it actually _did_ make him realise that Hotaru was quite pretty.

**XXXVIII.**

"I, Hatake Kakashi, nominate Team Seven, consisting of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto, for the Chuunin exams," the silver haired Jounin announced. Watching idly as all the other Jounin did the same save for...

"Not nominating your team, Temarei-kun?" the Sandaime asked kindly. Being a first time instructor it was clear that he was being more careful with his students than Kurenai was.

The half-Nara blinked at him in mild surprise, "Of course I am, Hokage-sama. They've already filled in the paperwork and handed it in," he stated.

"B-but the Chuunin exams haven't even been announced yet!" Kurenai spluttered.

Hisoka shrugged, "They're Infiltration, and Information Gathering specialists. They found out about the Chuunin preparations before I did," he stated calmly. And suddenly, none of the other Rookie Jounin felt quite as confident in their Genin as before.

**XXXIX.**

The first Chuunin exam was the very beginning, the Genjutsu on the doorway. Hotaru lead his team past it without even stopping, though he did have to grit his teeth and scowl when he heard the Uchiha brag for all to hear that it was a Genjutsu – didn't that idiot know anything of subtly?

The exam afterwards, heh, that was right up their alley. So easy it wasn't even funny.

Hotaru even went so far as to cast a Genjutsu on Naruto.

Behind him, Naruto stiffened ever so slighly when he saw writing appear on his paper.

_Don't panic, and don't react. I've put a Genjutsu on you so you'll be able to copy my answers. Just trace over the writing and you'll get full marks. Good luck, I'll see you in the next one. -Hotaru_

Naruto smiled softly, even now, when everyone was fighting for themselves, his friend came through for him. Naruto started writing, startling Hinata who had been watching him from the corner of her eye and spotted the Genjutsu gently settle over him.

**XL.**

In all honesty, he _hadn't_ been looking for them but he was glad he had when he interrupted at just the right moment to save Haruno some serious bruises. But the fact that these scum buckets were making their way to Naruto and the prone Uchiha hidden under the roots made his blood boil.

"Take one more step, and not even the Inuzuka will be able to find all of your pieces," he promised darkly, roughly kicking the unconscious Kunoichi aside. Haruno shuddered, her pink hair scattered around her like a halo.

Zaku, the mouthy one with the Death shirt, scoffed. "And who's going to stop me, a little bitch like you? Feh, maybe if you get on your knees I'll let 'em live a littl- _heek!_"

Sakura squeaked in horror as the Genin's head separated from his body, landing with a deafening thud on the forest floor.

Hotaru inhaled deeply through his nose, turning in the suddenly silent clearing as the body slumped forward, hitting the ground with a heavy thud. "I do not make idle threats," he assured them, the tanto in his hand slowly dripping blood onto the forest floor.

Sakura swallowed tightly, she had barely seen him move. And those bandages around his forearms... there were Storage Seals inscribed along the whole length of it – that must have been where he had the tanto hidden. But... what else did he have in there? She didn't remember him using a Tanto at all during morning training with Temarei-sensei.

Hotaru smiled, polite, and utterly chilling, because Sakura had never known him to be anything even approaching cruel. "If you threaten my Nakama any further, Genin-san. I will not hold back. And that, is a promise," he assured them softly. And Sakura felt her blood run cold.

**XLI.**

When he woke up, the first thing he saw was Sakura-chan, her hair shorn off, her face bloody. Then just as he was jumping to his feet, he spotted Hotaru to the left of her, throwing up in the bushes, splattered with blood.

He rushed past her and to his friend.

**XLII.**

The whole Sound Team.

He killed the _whole_ Sound Team.

Hotaru tightened his grip on his legs and stared silently at the floor. True, he had been protecting Naruto at the time, but he hadn't even _needed_ to kill the last one, with the bandages around his face, Dosu. He wanted to leave, Hotaru could see it in his eyes. But... if what Haruno said was true... he was working with the Missing Nin Orochimaru, whatever information he had gleaned from Naruto and his team could not be allowed to reach it's destination, because that was undoubtedly a test of some kind.

So he'd brutally and immediately taken him out. Multiple layered Genjutsu. Three different sound based Jutsu, one visual. And an introduction between Dosu's ear and the blade of his Tanto.

Thankfully, the Chuunin who escorted them into the tower was understanding when he requested a visit from a psyche nin, or his sensei. First kills were serious business, and given the nature of what he'd done... it was all the more important that he got at least something of the Little Ninja Talk.

**XLIII.**

Minato frowned, watching as the grey haired guy walked away. He wasn't... He leaned forward to Azami and Hotaru, "That guy... his Chakra is bigger than ours by a huge degree. He's lying," he whispered softly, causing the two to frown ever so slightly.

There was a pause as Azami made a sense enhancement Jutsu, "He reeks of chemicles and snake oil. Same as the Sound Jounin we passed earlier," she whispered. "He's definitely not tired, I'm not getting a single whiff of exhaustion off him."

There was a pause, "It's going to be impossible to follow him, huh..." Minato observed, watching as the grey haired teenager easily fended off the overly concerned members of Team Seven and stalked out of the hall. "We still need to warn someone, it could be nothing but if Orochimaru's been spotted in the village, and suddenly someone smelling of Snake Oil is lying to the Hokage's face..."

"He said he'd failed the exam seven times now. Do you think he's been waiting for specific orders? Genin aren't nearly as closely watched as Jounin, or Chuunin," Hotaru mused, leaning back a tad.

"We need to be careful about what we're accusing him of, Hotaru. Treason is a _huge_ deal. We could lose our headbands if it's thought we're wasting time," Azami warned softly.

Hotaru's green-green eyes glinted strangely. She always knew that her teammate was protective, but to be protective to the point where he would kill in cold blood to save someone he cared about... it was both scary, and reassuring. "He's too interested in Team Seve," the orphan finally decided.

"I'll step out," Minato muttered, "I'll tell ANBU-san when I can."

"Look for Neko-san. She'll listen," Azami advised, even as Minato put his hand up and called attention to himself.

It was a dangerous game they were playing. If Yakushi-san really were a spy... then Minato may be in trouble.

All of them may be in trouble.

**XLIV.**

– VS –

The first match, right off the bat!

"This'll be over quickly," muttered Kiba dismissively.

Hotaru watched as the Uchiha approached him, the two stared at one another in the eye. Undoubtedly they both remembered the idle lunchtime they spent together, but it seemed that a momentary peace wasn't enough to effect anything between them. But still, manners were manners.

He bowed, not taking his eyes off his opponent, "May the best Ninja win," he intoned.

"Oh I_ will_!" Sasuke grunted, kicking at his face.

He hadn't been expecting Hotaru to flip backwards, his foot kicking sand into his eyes. The cheering and screaming from the stands was drowned out as the two clashed in a brutal Taijutsu exchange, Sasuke's temper often getting the better of him as he lunged in for an attack and left himself open in some way. A way that Hotaru never failed to take advantage of.

Chakra was a funny thing. It could be used to walk on water, to stick to solid surfaces... even to people.

Sasuke could barely keep up – being prohibited from using the Sharingan, he couldn't even strip the minor Genjutsus that Hotaru employed during the match, he didn't even notice them. It was brutal to watch. Using Chakra to stick his hand to Sasuke's arm or leg, he would drag the other Genin close and batter him with knees, feet, elbows, and fists. When Sasuke went to counter, he would forcefully expel that Chakra and throw him away.

He wasn't above kneeing him in the groin either. Or grabbing him by the pressure points on his wrist and folding him over like a cheap picnic table.

It was over in under three minutes.

"Winner: Miura Hotaru," the Proctor announced with a rattling cough as the unconscious Uchiha was carried out of the arena.

**XLV.**

– VS –

It was almost too easy.

One Kirigakure mist Jutsu and a stab with one of her sedative laced senbon, he was down, out, and no one had the slightest idea of how it happened.

Azami smirked as she rejoined Hotaru back in the spectator's seats.

Information was power.

From the display earlier, people would assume that Hotaru's speciality was Taijutsu, and that he had some mild skill with Genjutsu. They couldn't have been further from the truth. Yes, Hotaru was a Taijutsu devil, but he didn't specialise in it. He was following their Sensei's footsteps. His true talent lay in **Fuuinjutsu**. No one could beat her teammate when it came to seals. And no one, apart from their Team, had the faintest idea that there was both a walking bomb, and a walking weapons arsenal sat beside them. She refrained from giggling.

She was a poison and Ninjutsu specialist, her weapon of choice wasn't, as many would expect, a senbon – that was a ruse for the prelims, just in case someone saw through the mist jutsu. No, her weapon of choice was both loaded darts, and heavy weapons, the bigger, the better. People may think it odd, but no one would expect a mace, or a war-hammer, or even a Zanbatou being loaded.

Minato... Now wasn't he a fun little thing in a fight. A shadow at the best of times, you'd think someone so airheaded and bright and cheerful would be as boisterous and brash as Naruto-kun. But he... he was a stealthy little bastard. All of them learned how to move with the shadows from the best, they were the most accomplished infiltrators of their generation. But Minato... he took it to new highs.

Anyone who thought they were ready for them come the next turn over were in for a _rude_ surprise.

**XLVI.**

Hinata-chan lost to her cousin in a horrible duel. Honestly, Hotaru would have been right down there beside Naruto if Hisoka-sensei hadn't explained clan politics in detail to him. Naruto was exempt from them, being what he was. But if an orphan started trash talking even a member of the branch family, threatening them on behalf of their heiress, it would be a shame on Hinata. Her already poor reputation would fall even further if word reached home that an ill-bred ruffian weakling had to defend her.

Naruto won against Kiba, as if there was any kind of doubt.

The Kazekage's oldest son, the puppet specialist Kankurou, won against Misumi-san of Yakushi's Genin team.

Ino lost quite horribly to Haruno during their match up. It looked as though Hisoka-sensei's training more than paid off in that conflict. Even her teammates looked flabberghasted at her defeat. And it was very nicely done.

Then came what, he felt, was one of the more interesting matches. A girl from last year's graduating class, Tenten, facing off against the Kazekage's daughter, wind-ninjutsu specialist Temari. Tenten-san lost, of course, but the fact she used storage seals and combined them with her weapon work, excellent Chakra control, and a rudimentary puppet technique using ninja wire was what had Hotaru's eyes glued to the match. Ahh, he would have to talk to her outside of the tournament. Those seals looked home-made.

The last of the Kazekage's children, sand wielding Gaara... That was a boy who made Hotaru's blood run cold. Because he had a very sinking feeling about just _what_ he was. The way he fought Rock Lee-san...

Hotaru wasn't the only one scowling by the end of the conflict.

After that bloody exchange, the fight between Akimichi-kun and Aburame-kun seemed rather anti-climatic. Especially when it ended before it really began with a single Bug-clone and Akimichi-kun getting careless and having his Chakra sucked out.

Then came the match ups for the turn over next month.

Hyuuga Neji vs. Uzumaki Naruto

Sabaku no Kankurou vs. Aburame Shino

Haruno Sakura vs. Inoue Azami

Sabaku no Temari vs. Nara Shikamaru

And...

Sabaku no Gaara vs. Miura Hotaru.

Hotaru was fighting against that psychopath in a month. His blood wasn't the only one that turned to ice with that realisation.

**XLVII.**

Hisoka-sensei took all three of them aside, he made Shadow Clones and sent all of them off for individual training – just because Minato wasn't take part that didn't mean he wasn't getting training, likewise with Azami. Hotaru may have the more dangerous opponent, but no one in Team Three was getting left behind. Hotaru couldn't describe how relieved he felt when he heard this. And how guilty he felt when he realised that Kakashi had done exactly that. Abandoned his two students in favour of the third, in favour of Sasuke who hadn't even _made_it into the Finals.

Naruto was spitting nails.

But never the less. Hotaru and Hisoka-sensei went on a massive Information Gathering binge, observing their target for the first five days, questioning the other Genin who may have crossed him in the Forest of Death, even the Medic Nin seeing to Rock Lee-san to see about his injuries.

Then came the training. The endless training. Hotaru had impressive Chakra reserves for a Genin, heck, they were impressive for a Chuunin. It was enough for him to manage two Kage Bunshin – they would spend their time practising Fuuinjutsu and studying up on Wind release techniques that Gaara was likely to use, as well as other Sand users. In particular, the Kazekage who used Gold-dust release, and the Third Kazekage who used iron sand. Any information was useful.

Meanwhile, Hisoka-sensei drilled him in using Chakra techniques – techniques like Senju Tsunade's earth shattering fist, and the third Raikage's Raiton piercing technique. Even Sarutobi Asuma-sensei's wind knives were studied and explored and taught. Hisoka-sensei proved his Nara roots in this instance, he dissected, deducted, and figured out all of the techniques and slowly walked Hotaru through them, even though he couldn't perform them – not having the Chakra control or capacity – it may provide inspiration for him to develop something that would help him in the fight.

Hotaru could only be thankful that Naruto was home by the time he managed to stagger back, flagging from Chakra exhaustion, covered in bruises and aching muscles, sweat-streaked and starving. Whomever was training Naruto was a lot more lax than Hisoka-sensei and as much as Naruto envied Hotaru for having a more dedicated Sensei, Hotaru currently envied him a little for his easy going sensei. Still, Naruto always had a hot bath running, some decent food waiting to be heated up, and some bruise ointment from the village pharmacy – a special salve for sore muscles and bruises, a Konoha special made by Tsunade-sama in the Second Shinobi War. He went through half a tub of the stuff almost every day, rubbing it into arms, legs, stomach, neck, and lower back. He had to ask Naruto nicely if he would please do the rest of his back and made a mental note to get him to do it more often because it was glorious as he dug his fingers and thumbs into the tense knotted muscle of his back, rubbing the pain away. So what if he left bruises, the salve would handle those.

Either way, Hotaru was quite certain he would have broken before the month was over if Naruto hadn't been there to handle the little things when he was too exhausted to. The three days he wasn't there weren't pleasant, Hotaru resolved to treat him to as much Ichiraku ramen as he could afford in thanks.

**XLVIII.**

This had to be some kind of bad joke.

The match ups were still the same, but the order was different!

Naruto and Neji were still fighting first (Hotaru had no doubt that Naruto would win. He was a tricky bastard and Neji was so up himself it was a wonder he could see through all the shit around him), but then it was Sakura and Azami, THEN him and Gaara!

Well... He glanced over at Aburame-san and received a subtle nod. When everything kicked off at least one of them would be at full Chakra capacity and able to neutralise the Suna Genin while he and Naruto dealt with their monstrous little brother. Really, Shikamaru was smart, how had he missed the signs? Distantly, he could sense Hatake and Uchiha watching from the shadows of the second floor spectator stands. Minato was close to the Kage box, likely channelling his sense-enhancement very carefully.

Watching Naruto beat some sense into the Hyuuga was very cathartic.

Azami vs Sakura was... different, and a little embarrassing on Haruno's behalf. They were both skilled, yes, but it was easy to see which of them was the better Chuunin candidate. Sakura didn't even realise she was in a Genjutsu until Azami had her buried up to her neck in hard packed earth.

Then... Gaara stepped into the arena, and Hotaru was fairly certain he was about to vomit. There was fresh blood on his clothing. Not much, just a fine arterial mist on the white sash, too fine for anyone to notice if they hadn't been _looking_ for it.

"Just remember your training. You're the best prepared to deal with him, even amidst the Chuunin. You'll be fine. Stay safe, and use your head," Hisoka-sensei advised.

Hotaru nodded, swallowing against his dry throat. "I... My Will... It's in the wooden box in the sock-draw back at home. If the worst happens..."

"I'll see to it, I promise."

Hotaru nodded and jumped over the railings, his heart hammering like a hummingbird's wings. He wished Naruto had been there so he could have said his goodbyes properly, but after Sakura and Azami's match he'd gone to the toilet so he wouldn't be hopping in Hotaru's, he still hadn't come back. He swallowed as he approached the Suna Nin. Watered down jade met vivid grass-green and the glint of barely there sanity gleamed like a cat's eye in the dark. And... calm. Calm washed over Hotaru's senses. His heart slowed, and his breathing evened. His muscles loosened and then...

Genma could hardly believe his eyes, the Genin went from a nervous wreck to a zen monk in the time it took to blink an eye.

"Begin!"

**XIL.**

Immediate survival instinct warred with Long Term survival instinct.

Two distinct paths that screamed at him for attention in the split seconds of reprieve he had when dancing between the deadly sand-whips. He was oblivious to the wild cheering of the spectators, of Azami threatening him if he lost, of the worry that lined his fellow Rookies faces as he spun, ducked, weaved, and leapt over the attacks.

On the one hand, he could neutralise the threat immediately. But in doing so, he would tip his hand. Revealing his skill in Fuuinjutsu to the general populace, as well as visiting Nobility and the spies of other nations. If he revealed too much, he would be a kidnap/assassination target for other nations, or, considered a village resource too valuable to lose by putting on the front lines – he would be packed away into R&D, only he couldn't blackmail his way out like Sensei could. He was just a Genin. Tipping his hand went against his long term survival instincts.

Short term was currently telling him that _someone_ had to take the mad Jinchuuriki down immediately because Sand were planning something, there was going to be something big kicking off, and bringing an unstable Jinchuuriki – hell, _ANY_ Jinchuuriki into allied territory, was asking for trouble. They were walking weapons that chose when to go off, and where.

So.

His options were to Seal him now. Save a lot of lives in whatever confrontation that was going to kick off as soon as he did so, and end up never seeing the light of day in his own village – or end up abducted and having his brain turned to jelly by a foreign nation trying to steal Village secrets. Or leave it and try and find another way using everything else he'd learned. This was a lot riskier and...

He sighed and swayed out of the way of an attack.

Well. He never did have a choice, did he?

Hotaru tore the bandages from his forearms, revealing the long sealing scriptures inscribed upon the inside with a malicious grin – the expression on the mad Jinchuuriki's face _was_ very sweet. He wondered if R&D would let him still live with Naruto?

**L.**

"Kakashi-sensei! Hisoka-sensei!" Naruto called, rushing up the stairs towards them. "Senseis, please! Stop the fight right now!" he begged. He'd gone to the bathroom, run into Shikamaru and on their way back... those bodies... "Gaara... he's not right. He's – he's not normal!"

"What do you mean?" Ino asked shakily. Naruto was generally too thick to get scared, whatever he'd seen had shaken him, bad.

"He lives to kill others! At this rate... Taru will die!" he exclaimed in terror, grabbing at Kakashi-sensei's flak jacket.

A hand landed on his head and he stiffened, turning and spotting Hisoka-sensei crouched beside him, hand on his head. "Calm down Naruto-kun. Hotaru is a lot wilier than you're giving him credit. I'm glad you care, and I'm sure he'll be happy to know you were worried for him. But we know exactly what Gaara is." There was a knowing glint in his eye and Naruto felt his stomach flip over. Hotaru knew what a Jinchuuriki was, and he knew that Gaara was one. "Steps have been taken. Watch."

**LI.**

Gaara _screamed_.

"WHERE IS SHE? MOTHER! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! WHY WON'T SHE SPEAK?! MOTHER! _MOTHER!_" he wailed as all the sand around him fell to the ground, limp and lifeless.

Hotaru puffed out a breath, watching him warily as he desperately tried to get the sand to answer his command.

"Just a little something to keep her out of our fight," he explained. "After all, I don't have a mother to hide behind. It's not fair that you get to bring her into a fight when I can't do the same."

Gaara writhed on the ground, screeching, even as the air around them filled with feathers. Soft and warm, and sweet. Kind of like a pillow. Hmm, that's a point. He's done a lot today. Surely no one would mind if he took a quick nap. He did just neutralise the biggest threat in the r-

"_**KAI!**_" he snarled, snapping his Chakra like a belt within himself.

Let the war begin.

**LII.**

The Kage box exploded, Minato had maybe a split second chance in the chaos. He charged his Chakra into the wire and threw it, watching as the Hokage was pulled up towards the roof by the Impostor-Kazekage, the glint of Ninja wire around his ankle that was pulling Minato up along with them. Damn. He didn't think Hotaru would be right about this but he was somewhat glad he did.

They burst out onto the roof, the plaster dust and falling tiles providing the perfect cover for him to release the wire, roll away from the confrontation and Henge himself into a stray Fuuinjutsu tag, a flash-bang tag.

He hadn't been spotted because a split second later, both he, four other Sound Ninja, the Hokage, and the Kazekage were encased in a glowing purple box. Trapped. And the ANBU who attempted to get in were vaporised – likely as not, anyone who touched the purple field would be as well.

Standing opposite his wayward student, Hiruzen couldn't help but be both highly concerned, and impressed by the little Genin who managed to follow them into the dome and hide so effectively. Even a Sensor as skilled as Orochimaru would discard the faint discharge he was giving out as simply the Fuuinjutsu he had Sealed himself into. He turned his attention away from the child, lest he give him away to his student who was busily monologuing. He could have sworn he'd beaten that habit out of the Serpent Summoner.

It looked like he was in need of remedial lessons.

**LIII.**

The Suna Genin had escaped with their Sensei while Hotaru was busy trying to defend civilians in the stadium, he had barely a moment to realise that Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru had gone haring off after him while he tried to dodge under the lashing strikes of a Sound Chuunin who seemed quite determined to take his head off.

All around him was chaos. Jounin and Chuunin flitted here and there and Hotaru maintained his position as best he could, protecting his section of civilians with everything he could manage. He would _hold the line!_

"Miura! Follow Naruto and the others!" It was Hatake-san, suddenly he was there, punting the Sound Chuunin across the stadium like a cheap kickball. "The Sand Jounin, Baki, managed to unravel the seals! Hisoka is dealing with him now but you need to get that Bijuu back under control!" he ordered.

Shit! Hotaru cursed, giving the Jounin a hasty salute before darting off. He had miscalculated! Given the state of Gaara-san's Seal, he assumed that Suna's Fuuinjutsu users were on par with low Chuunins. Able to copy and duplicate low level seals, but anything bigger and it twists and screws up. Konoha had benefited from the Shodai's wife a lot more than anyone could imagine when it came to Fuuinjutsu.

**LIV.**

Minato would have been sweating like a pig, if he could while pretending to be a piece of paper. The fight between the Kages had really kicked off, and holy _shit_ those were fucking _zombies!_

Still, old man Hokage was losing. He wasn't as young as he used to be and against three S-ranked opponents, one of which being their former Founder, the other his Jounin Sensei, and the last his very own student... the odds were _not_ in old Sarutobi's favour. Two of them knew his techniques and fighting style inside out, the other was a Chakra monster to the degree he was known for altering maps of the country during his conflicts!

Hokage-sama needed help.

But a Genin wasn't going to be helpful at all in a conflict like this.

His non-existent eyes canted to the side, to the girl crouched at the corner, her hands held in a sealing stance, her chin dripping sweat from exertion. A Genin wouldn't be any help in a fight between Kages. But... even a mouse could turn the tide of a battle by befouling one of the smallest portions of a trap.

He broke the Henge and lunged – ramming the pink haired girl into the purple barrier even as he slammed a kunai into the base of her skull, point first. Even if the barrier didn't kill her, the blade would.

There was a roar of outrage as the purple shield sputtered and shattered like a pane of glass.

**LV.**

Naruto frowned sadly when he woke up, staring at the empty space in the bed.

The Suna-Sound invasion had caused a lot of trouble, but thankfully had been resolved quite nicely, all things considered. Hokage-jiji survived and managed to deal with the two Zombie Kage with help from Kakashi-sensei and Fuzzybrows-sensei, plus ANBU. But...

He got out of bed and made his way into the bathroom, not bothering to knock because he knew what he would see. And just like every morning since the invasion a week ago, he found Hotaru sat in the shower, knees hugged against his chest, eyes blank and unseeing as he stared at the cold water that swirled down the drain. Naruto sighed softly through his nose as he turned the shower off and grabbed a large towel.

But no one had noticed the single Genin on that rooftop as they summoned Medic Nin to the injured Hokage's side. It was as they returned, Team Seven, Shikamaru, and Hotaru, that the exhausted and bloodsplattered Fuuinjutsu prodigy peeled away from them and, ignoring all ANBU attempts to stop him, immediately by-passed the Hokage and his fussing medics and straight to his Teammate.

Tanaka Minato couldn't even moan by the time the green eyed boy reached him. He couldn't do anything. His body twisted and broken on the bloody tiles of the rooftop – a victim of Orochimaru's rage when his plan was thwarted. Thwarted by a Genin with no Kekkei Genkai, no great clan, and no flashy Jutsu.

Common sense, stealth, sneakiness, and a blade had brought his master plan tumbling down like a cheap house of cards.

Something kind of broke in Hotaru that day. Azami's heartbroken scream when she saw their teammate certainly hadn't helped. And Naruto felt something in his chest twist as he looked on the scene, as Hisoka-sensei gathered them up in his arms, Azami clinging to his bloody vest wailing her heart out, Hotaru unseeing and limp, and Minato, broken and gone.

Backs were turned, heads were bowed, the small team were given their space and their respect. It was a given that Minato's name would end up on the Memorial Stone, and in the Konoha History books as a shining example of how everyone is important to the village, no matter who they were. As Hotaru once said, propaganda bullshit to bewitch the civvies.

Bundling the dark haired boy in the towel, Naruto easily lifted him from the shower and brought him back into the bedroom, sitting him on the bed and beginning the laborious, but normal by now, routine and rubbing some warmth back into Hotaru's arms and legs which were by this time practically blue with cold. He told himself to stop worrying, to not shake and slap his friend and just do _anything_ to get that dead look out of his eye, because he knew that when Minato's funeral was held, he would be alright afterwards. It was the time inbetween that was slowly killing him.

So in the mean time, he made sure Hotaru didn't die of cold. And if he hugged him extra tight, well, no one was there to call him on it.

**LVI.**

Something hot, and sick flipped over in Hotaru's stomach as he stood beside Azami and Shikamaru, the elderly bandaged Hokage handing over their newly received flak-jackets. His face tired, but proud as he gave them the same propaganda bullshit he used back when he and Naruto were brats in the Orphanage. Still, he didn't call the lying old monkey out on it like he had in his youth.

What was adorable, promising, and capricious back then, was not appreciated from a soldier right now.

It was enough that the Hokage's gaze dimmed ever so slightly when he caught the knowing scowl on his face. As long as the old man knew his crap wasn't swallowed, they had an understanding. Naruto was the only reason he was a Shinobi right now. For however long Naruto was loyal to this shithole, he would be as well. Because almost every quarrel he had with the place he had taken up in his best friend's defence. And Sarutobi could respect that. He could use that. And he could _trust_ that.

Hotaru tried not to feel bitter when he was handed an extra missive from R&D telling him to report to the Intelligence Department at eight am the next day.

**LVII.**

"Hmph, I should have known," Hisoka-sensei grunted unhappily as he glared at Jiraiya. "You're the only one stupid enough to teach Naruto-kun to access techniques of that nature," he sneered, making the assorted Genin blink in surprise at the open hostility in the Jounin's voice and posture. He looked a hairsbreadth away from ripping into the Sannin.

Jiraiya just laughed awkwardly, not even trying to defend himself when Naruto knew full well he wasn't above dropping a toad on anyone who questioned his training techniques. So why was Hisoka-sensei getting away with it? He knew the Jounin was a scary strong Ninja, but Ero-Sennin had trained the Yondaime and claimed he could beat anyone. Was that just more baseless bragging?

"How on earth did you nab Jiraiya-sama as your teacher, Ruto?" Hotaru whispered in his ear. He, Azami, and Hinata-chan were all present to wish him goodbye and goodluck as he and the pervert went out looking for the Godaime-to-be. Some old lady who used to be on the same Genin team as Ero-Sennin and the Snake Freak.

Naruto coughed and turned his eyes away, "He knocked my last teacher unconscious, so I forced him to take his place." There was absolutely _no way_ that Naruto was going to tell him that he'd broken his word and used the Oiroke no Jutsu on the creep – only to have Hotaru proven right and nearly get molested. And Naruto knew that if Ero-Sennin wanted to take it further, there was nothing Naruto could have done to stop him. It was an eye opening experience, and a terrifying one.

**LVIII.**

"Ne, ne, Ero-Sennin? Why does Hisoka-sensei hate you so much? And why'd you let him get away with bad mouthing you? Usually you'd drop a toad on 'im and walk off cackling after you'd drawn on his face or something," Naruto observed suspiciously.

Jiraiya laughed that odd embarrassed and awkward laugh he had back when the Jounin was glaring daggers at him. "Funny story that," he mused hesitantly. "See, he's just real angry at me, picking a fight for the sake of it. Nothing personal in the professional sense of the word but... Well, have you ever _seen_ Temarei-san out of uniform? He's quite the beauty, and a ladies man I may be, even I appreciate beautiful things. Problem is... he was out on an infiltration mission. I kinda mistook him as one of the luscious young ladies of my acquaintance so while he was... occupied with his information retrieval. I used him as a research subject. In fact..." Jiraiya flushed, looking both pleased and a little mortified. "He became the model for the main heroine in my second Icha Icha book, almost everything done in that book is something I witnessed him perform during that Infiltration mission. It was a best seller and word got back to him. He recognised the events and... he wasn't pleased."

Naruto stared at him.

And then prodded him, "How are you still alive? I didn't think people this stupid could exist," he muttered under his breath.

Jiraiya couldn't even defend himself from the accusation, he'd asked himself this many times.

**LIX.**

Hotaru was rapidly losing patience with the insipid Chuunin philistines that kept bragging about their Fuuinjutsu skills – skills they earned through copying books and being stupid and useless and- and – He stood up and stalked to the chalk board, snatching up a blue stick he made several harsh lines and arcs across the blackboard.

"You're all morons," he snapped as he made his sharp movements, feeling the tight throb of rage in his chest. "See this here? THIS line here! What you lost are gibbering over as though it were the holy grail of arrays is nothing more than a power bleed. Remove it and you destabilise the entire Seal, but slap on a white Rhino," He snatched up a stick of red and made the requisite jagged arcs. "or a Mushroom Cloud," a white stick of chalk swirled over the array, "or even a motherfucking Elephant Seal!" A yellow chalk stick did the rounds. "And you've got a multi-faceted eight pronged Seal that could work at Sealing anything from a building, to a Bijuu, to a Jutsu, or even a motherfucking person in complete suspended animation until such a time as _you_ deem it necessary to release!" he ranted, jabbing the chalkboard sharply as he glared at the assembled gaping Chuunins.

He whipped back around and swiped the chalk away and redrew the original array, "This seal is the basic bones. Don't think that it's impossible to alter. That's a fucking lie. Fuuinjutsu isn't maths, or equations. Its art. And I dare any brainless retard to tell me wrong and I will grind his face into these arrays until he's better than me – _THEN_ he can tell me I'm wrong!" the clanless Orphan snarled as he snatched up a different coloured chalk and removed another segment from the original seal and sketched out a two element seal above it, a two element that swirled into a hydra seal with a core root array of vines.

"You are limited only by your imagination and your _guts_. If you haven't got the balls to play God, then get the fuck out of this room. Fuuinjutsu isn't for you," he barked, tapping the Seal he had literally just invented on the board.

Not a single soul moved.

**LX.**

Naruto could have spat lava, he was positively seething as he stomped back to Konoha. But he was less angry than afraid. That Snake Freak... the things he insinuated. Fucking Kabuto. If he laid one _finger_ on either Sasuke of Hotaru not even Dog breath's mother would be able to find all the pieces Naruto ripped him into.

The first thing he did when he got through the gates was ditch Granny and Ero-Sennin to go talk to the old bastards and rush right to the R&D department where Hotaru was likely working himself into a fine temper listening to the idiots he had to work with. Naruto only felt himself relax ever so slightly as he heard the sound of his friend's voice, snappish and positively rude as he sneered at a man three times his age.

Hotaru was an amazing teacher, but, he didn't suffer fools lightly. And while he had an infinite well of patience for Naruto, that well could be shallow enough to give a butterfly a foot-bath when it came to other people. Braggarts who thought they had a single clue about Fuuinjutsu was one of his biggest pet peeves. Something his Sensei had managed to successfully pass on along with a love of the art.

Naruto couldn't make heads or tails of it when Hotaru tried to explain but resolved to just stick with the fact that his bestfriend loved it so he'd better get used to grunting at the right intervals when he started waxing poetical about them during lunch, or excitedly telling him about some breakthrough or other.

**LXI.**

It was Granny Tsunade's inauguration. All the Shinobi were gathered in front of the Hokage tower to hear her acceptance speech. Naruto grinned at Hotaru who was chalk-covered and scowling. He may have hated the R&D department but there was no denying that he was getting the mental stimulation he needed, and advancing in ridiculous leaps and bounds in his Fuuinjutsu. Even Hisoka-sensei was a little startled, and achingly proud, of his student's progress. Naruto even remembered him getting as close to bragging as Hisoka-sensei ever would when telling Kurenai-sensei about it the last time he'd run into Team Eight.

Thankfully, Hisoka-sensei had yet to arrive. It gave Naruto a chance to get that book out of sight!

"Kakashi-sensei! Please! Put it away!" he hissed desparately to his teacher. The sooner Icha Icha volume 2, Make Out All Over Again, was hidden from sight, the less likely they were to die a messy death when Hisoka-sensei finally caught up with them.

"Oh?" Kakashi hummed in amusement, "It's never bothered you before, Naruto," he observed idly.

"Yeah! Because I didn't know Ero-Sennin based the main character off Hisoka-sensei before now! Put it away or you'll get us all killed!" Naruto moaned in distress trying to pull the book out of his teacher's hand.

Kakashi's visible eye bugged out, "Wait, what? Hisoka?" he spluttered.

"Yes! Ero-Sennin told me how he mistook Hisoka-sensei for a girl when he was on an infiltration mission and based the female lead off him! Hisoka-sensei recognised it because everything that happened in the book happened in his mission! Seriously, Kakashi-sensei, put it away! I'm too young to die! I haven't made Hokage yet!" Naruto knew full well upsetting Hisoka-sensei on this matter would be like getting caught peeping ala Ero-Sennin style on Granny-Tsunade, Sakura-chan, that Suna girl, bun-headed Weapon Freak, Ino, AND Azami, all at once!

Kakashi _thankfully_ put the book away, and not a moment too soon because Hisoka-sensei finally appeared, Azami in hand. No one caught the considering look the Hatake gave his colleague.

**LXII.**

"What do you mean, '_no_'?" Hotaru flared, glaring at the blonde Kage.

Tsunade scowled, truthfully, she was sympathetic to him, she knew how stir-crazy he was getting in the R&D department, she had witnessed his snarling rants on Fuuinjutsu himself. He was the thundercloud darling of the Development department. They loved him as much as he terrified them. He was clearly a combatant, someone trained for the front lines and damn good at it, but... ah, he was facing the same problem she had in the beginning. The Stigma of a backline fighter and '_national resource_'. The difference between their circumstances being only too simple: Medics are time consuming to train, but they could be trained. Fuuinjutsu prodigies akin to Miura were a once in a decade, no, once in a _generation_ thing. She was utterly useless with the things unless they tied directly to Ijutsu, then it became only too clear to her eyes what she was doing – that Uzumaki blood proving true. But apart from the all but dead Uzumaki Clan, only Jiraiya and a few odd personnel here and there had anything even approaching skill with Fuuinjutsu. And none of them could use it in combat the way that Temarei and Miura could.

They were the _only_ combat Fuuinjutsu specialists in the village.

Even Jiraiya was a Ninjutsu specialist at heart.

"You know why, Miura," she grit out. Sensei had warned her about this one. He was smart. Too smart. And entirely too jaded from growing up as Naruto's only support in a village that hated him. And now he was being forced into a backline position that clearly ill-suited him because no one else could equal him in Fuuinjutsu, something he hadn't wanted to reveal but been forced to do so in order to protect the village.

A fine way of repaying him.

He swallowed her personal feelings, "Return to R&D, develop a Sealing method to either extract, destroy, or inert the Heaven Seal. I'm ordering you to work with Miterashi Anko on this," she ordered.

And like that, with one last mutinous glower, Miura Hotaru left her office.

Christ, it was like looking at herself that day before she met Dan. The bitter disappointment and betrayal of _knowing_ you were right, but having no support, making her mouth taste bitter.

**LXIII.**

They failed. Naruto could only stare at the ceiling of his Hospital room, his left arm warm from where Hotaru was asleep next to him. Undoubtedly his bestfriend had come running the moment he heard and hadn't left since. They should have taken him with them. If he and Hotaru had tag-teamed the bastard they could have dragged him back to Granny-Tsunade who would give him the slap down he needed. But they hadn't been allowed. Hotaru was too important as a Fuuinjutsu specialist to risk on missions.

He put a brave face on for Sakura-chan but...

Jealousy was an ugly thing, he decided. And it hurt.

**LXIV.**

"I'm... I've got... I've got the Kyuubi sealed inside of me. B-But I'm not him! And I'd never hurt you!" Naruto blurted out, anxiously reaching for his bestfriend. Hotaru had woken up some time ago and immediately set to fussing over him until the odd bubbly feeling in Naruto's stomach got too much and he had to tell him the truth.

Hotaru rolled his eyes and allowed the blond to grab his hands, before tugging him forwards so that he could properly wrap the shorter boy in a tight hug, bandages, bruises, and all. "I already knew all about that, Ruto-baka," he scolded softly, digging his fingers into the twelve-year-old's thick hair. "The adults aren't exactly very good at keeping secrets. I figured it out years ago. I didn't care then, and I don't care now. You're still mine," he stated firmly. And when he got his hands on that filthy Uchiha traitor, he was going to take great pleasure in ripping him into bloody chunks to feed to the Tigers in the Forest of Death.

"F-for years?" Naruto spluttered, trying to ignore the burning sting at the corners of his eyes. He had known for years? His voice wobbled but thankfully Hotaru didn't comment.

"I figured you would tell me when you felt up to it. I'm glad you finally did though. I was getting a little worried that you didn't trust me," he muttered, burying his face into his friend's neck to hide his shaky, relieved grin. He had been worried, so very worried, that Naruto didn't trust him, didn't care for him enough to tell.

He then did something he would come to regret in the following years, he kissed his bestfriend full on the mouth. Because... Naruto had never really been JUST his bestfriend.

**LXV.**

He had left Konoha in a fine, high temper. Ero-Sennin had thankfully not even asked what had upset him so much and after a few days on the road... Naruto wasn't too sure himself, and guilt began to churn his insides when he remembered the look on Hotaru's face when he shoved him away and shouted at him. Telling him off, and loudly proclaiming that he loved Sakura-chan and Hotaru _knew_ he did and how he couldn't believe that the other boy would try to ruin that.

And... And he just took it. He stood there and let Naruto vent at him, his anger, fear, frustration, confusion, and sadness. Everything that had built up from the Chuunin exams coming bursting out with one target whom he couldn't hate even if he tried, but still lashed out and hurt because... because at the time he didn't care.

It didn't occur to him until Ero-Sennin was cooking breakfast at his little hide-away house, until a week after they'd left Konoha, that maybe Hotaru's feelings had been genuine.

**LXVI.**

Years passed.

Guilt mixed with fear prevented Naruto from writing an apology to send back to his bestfriend, telling himself that it wasn't the sort of thing you could do on paper, it had to be face to face for it to mean anything. He knew what it really was, simple cowardice. The same cowardice that prevented him from telling Sakura-chan and Sasuke about his tenant. Stopped him from telling the rest of the Rookies, even though he was quite certain Shikamaru and Shino had figured it out already. And if Hinata-chan had those freaky eyes, maybe she could even see it.

He was a bundle of nerves when Jiraiya told him to pack.

_**000**_

**First half done!**

**I should have been doing uni work... NEVER UNDERESTIMATE WHAT YOU CAN DO! **

**When you're supposed to be doing something else. 8Y;;**

**Don't follow my example kids. Work hard.**


	2. Within Stormy Skies

**I.**

Konoha's huge red gates opened in front of them as if throwing her arms open to hug them in welcome. Naruto couldn't even begin to describe how he felt as he stepped through them once more after so long away, it felt... like breathing again. He climbed to the top of the nearest communications-pole, and breathed deep the familiar perfume of his village, listened to the sounds of the busy market around him, soaked in the warm sun overhead, and overlooked the familiar roof-tops, vibrant coloured flowers, flourishing ever green trees, the distant wings of local birds, and the flitting black figures of colleagues he couldn't wait to meet.

The only true sign of change was the new face carved into the mountain. Tsunade peered out over the village with an expression unfamiliarly solemn, and responsible. He couldn't help but snort in amusement at the sight.

"You've grown a lot, haven't you, Naruto?" greeted a familiar, and much missed voice.

**II.**

Naruto grinned as he made his way back to his apartment, high on the success of beating Kakashi-sensei. But man, had Sakura-chan gotten way stronger or what? Scary strong, and just as pretty as when he lef-

Naruto frowned as he knocked on the door a second time, no answer. That was odd. Hotaru generally answered on the first knock – some weird hang up from before the orphanage Naruto had never bothered to stop, same with his neat-freak tendencies (Someone had to keep the apartment clean and Naruto certainly wouldn't). Digging around for his spare key, he pulled it out of the crack behind the door-jam and opened the place up, coughing a little at the stale reek of dust that filled his nose. He blinked and waved a hand in front of his mouth and nose to clear the air out before staring at the semi-ransacked apartment. The whole place was trashed, dust covered everything...

There was no sign of Hotaru.

**III.**

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto roared, pounding his fist against his teacher's apartment door. He had gone sprinting for his teacher's place the moment he realised that all of Hotaru's things were still there – he hadn't moved out and trashed the place in a fit of temper (Naruto winced mentally, knowing that his friend would be entirely justified in doing so).

The door snapped open, and Naruto's smile of relief froze in shock as two dark onyx black eyes glared down at him. The person was male, shirtless, a pair of loose grey sweats hung low on a pair of lean hips, a thin trail of hairs leading up from the band to a well-toned six pack, knicked and scarred here and there. Long black hair hung down from a familiar face, longer than before but still the same style.

"H-Hisoka-sensei?" the Jinchuuriki spluttered, utterly bewildered over why Hotaru's sensei was in his sensei's apartment, and why he was shirtless too.

Dark eyes narrowed slightly before he turned away and stalked back in, leaving the door open behind him. Naruto hesitantly followed him in, toeing his shoes off in the porch and stepping into the kitchen where Kakashi-sensei was sat at the table, tea and new book in front of him, looking completely unsurprised to see him. Hisoka-sensei was not in the room, something a little relieving because that reaction... those cold eyes... Naruto repressed a shudder.

"Take a seat, Naruto," the white haired Jounin told him tiredly. "We've got some things to talk about."

**IV.**

A missing nin.

An A-ranked missing nin.

Naruto could only stare at his teacher, not understanding. "Th-that can't be right," he denied, shaking his head. "No way. Sasuke is one thing, Itachi fucked with his head pretty bad, and he really wants power. But Taru? No." Naruto shook his head vehemently. There was just no way. Uh-uh. Nope. Not possible. Hotaru was the most loyal person in the village. He was the one who stuck by Naruto come thick, or thin. Come what may. All that jazz. There was no chance in hell that his bestfriend would have just upped and left. Not even after that fight. Heck, his friend may not have been aware, but Naruto _knew_ he was the one who sent their first sensei down a flight of stairs, there was no prank, no active action, but Hotaru had done it, somehow. He also knew it was Hotaru who stopped Matron from finding them when she was drunk. Got them food he had no way of being able to physically get when one of the Orphanage helpers purposefully withheld food.

Hotaru had strange powers. They weren't Chakra, and they weren't Jutsu, but they worked. Naruto was a lot stronger than Hotaru, so how else could his bestfriend have physically thrown him to the ground and kept him there while cramming vegetables down his throat? It felt like Naruto's back had been glued to the floorboards. Everything he had done was done for Naruto's benefit, even if he'd fought him tooth and nail at the time. Hotaru was the most loyal and caring person Naruto knew, he wouldn't have left because of that fight. He would have been upset, positively crushed and depressed. But after a few months, he would have gotten over it, he would have calmed down and decided to wait until Naruto got back, punched him, dragged him off for Ichiraku back at the flat and they would have _talked_. (He used to think it girlie and stupid to talk about their problems, but Hotaru forced him. Now that he was older, Naruto knew that it was important to talk over your problems. It helped you figure them out, and it helped the other person figure them out and know what not to do ever again.)

Kakashi sighed, "Well, that is what has happened. Whether you believe it or not. Three months after you left, he just vanished. Completely gone." The Jounin stared at his student a moment as he ran a finger around the rim of his teacup; he seemed to be debating something before closing his eye, as though in pain. "Naruto, Miura-kun has never been loyal to Konoha," he stated bluntly, before snapping a hand up to stop Naruto's protests before they could even leave his tongue. "The Sandaime knew that, I knew that, Hiso knew that. Even Inoue-kun knew that. You seem to be the only one who missed that memo. Miura was _never_ loyal to the village, or the Hokage. In fact, I would even go so far as to say he hated them. _YOU_ were the one he was loyal to. You were the reason he joined the Academy," he explained brutally.

"I don't know what falling out you two had, but it was pretty big, wasn't it?" Naruto winced, remembering the look on his friend's face, and felt both guilt and self-loathing twist his stomach into knots. "Well, after you left, he was really depressed. Almost as bad as after Tanaka-kun's death. He started taking active missions without authorisation, a big enough problem but Tsunade-sama knew it would only be a matter of time before he went crazy sitting on his thumbs in R&D, so she let it slide. But his mission rate was bordering on burn out. Hiso was really very concerned. He then started taking stupid risks on missions, got reckless, got careless. He ended up in hospital repeatedly, and Tsunade-sama pulled him from the active mission rosters, and put on psyche-watch."

Naruto recoiled as if slapped. Psyche-watch was pretty much as close to suicide watch a Hidden Village got. It was what happened when important Clan Heirs or lords became mentally unstable. When they were still needed for breeding potential, or jutsu knowledge they had yet to pass on. "Then one of his Seals blew up, took half R&D with it. He landed himself in hospital. We don't know what happened after that. A week later, he was gone. The orderly came into his room and found all the Fuuinjutsu imbedded into the walls and equipment tampered with, the window open, and Miura missing."

"It wouldn't have been so bad, they would have labelled him a kidnapee if the Sandaime hadn't been forced to come clean about his true loyalties. The Council of Elders had no choice but to label him a Missing Nin on the off-chance that one of Jiraiya's spy networks may pick up on him after that," explained a second voice, making Naruto tense and turn around. It was Iruka-sensei. He looked over at Kakashi, "Hisoka's at mine," he stated by means of explanation and the Jounin nodded, a mildly pained expression on his face.

"What?" Naruto asked, confused.

Neither of them answered.

**V.**

It was difficult to put his mind to anything but his missing friend as he put his apartment to rights. He would find Hotaru's things here and there, strewn around, when usually he was so neat – ANBU hadn't been so concerned with keeping the place neat and tidy when they were looking for evidence of his turning traitor. They didn't find anything, but just because he hadn't been premeditated in his leaving didn't mean that he wasn't still legally classed as a traitor. It burned at him internally when he realised that Sasuke still wasn't legally considered a Missing Nin. The excuse was because the Uchiha was his bestfriend, it was a personal favour to him.

_Bullshit_.

They wouldn't have labelled Hotaru a Missing Nin if that were the case. No. This was entirely because of the Sharingan. Not him. And his stomach churned as he found little bits and bobs, and he would wonder if his bestfriend were always that tiny when he found an old shirt, or shoe. And remember how smart he was when he found one of the non-fiction books he would practically devour in the evenings. All of his notebooks were gone, appropriated by what was left of the R&D department, which really rankled him something awful. Because Hotaru had never wanted to be there to begin with.

But he bit back his temper and got on with his life. Sakura was kind enough not to say anything, Kakashi-sensei was careful not to bring up anything related to them. Hisoka-sensei... well, Iruka-sensei explained it gently as he could while they walked home that the Jounin didn't believe that Hotaru had left willingly, but he blamed Naruto for his disappearance all the same. '_He was always careful when it came to Fuuinjutsu. His reasoning is that if it hadn't been for your argument, Hotaru wouldn't have gotten hurt, or careless. He wouldn't have been in the Hospital_'.

But instead of lashing out at him, the half-Nara merely avoided him. It made Naruto worried about how Azami would react if he ran into her – she was a firecracker at the best of times.

**VI.**

Akatsuki, again!

Naruto ground his teeth as he rushed onward. Barely a day back in Konoha and already those weird-freaks were stirring up trouble and attacking his precious people. Attacking Gaara, trying to rip the Ichibi out of him – trying to kill him! He had made it to Kazekage! He finally got recognition, affection, admiration, the people of Suna accepted and loved him and those bastards show up and try to tear it all away from him! It wasn't fair! Why was it always Gaara?

Why was it always his friends?

**VII.**

He snarled furiously at the Fuuinjutsu in front of him, not for the first time gnashing his teeth over the fact that Hotaru was gone, and couldn't join Team 7 and was just _gone_.

Behind that Fuuinjutsu was Gaara! Gaara who needed him! Needed his help!

**VIII.**

Naruto was silent as he followed behind Team Gai and Sakura. They could tell something was bugging him, but Sakura was the only one to realise what, and she thankfully kept the others off his back – gently shaking her head and pushing them on before Lee or Tenten could comment.

He lost Gaara today.

Sakura-chan and the others could say what they liked about Baachan using that special jutsu to revive him. But it didn't change the fact that _Gaara._ _Was. Dead._ One of the strongest Ninja Naruto knew, a Jinchuuriki to boot, had died and there had been absolutely _nothing_ that Naruto could have done because _he. Had. Not. Been. There._

And he couldn't stop the deep cold ache that settled in his bones when he pictured, every time he closed his eyes, another face that seemed so peaceful and slack in death's embrace. Someone who died because he hadn't been there. Someone Naruto didn't know, couldn't know, whether or not they were alive or well.

He tried not to think about it. It wasn't his thing. He didn't like thinking this way. He was Uzumaki fucking Naruto, he didn't let any one or any thing keep him down! But...

Hotaru wouldn't stop appearing in his mind's eye with the same face as Gaara.

He kept seeing Sasuke's face with Orochimaru's eyes smirking out at him from the darkness.

**IX.**

_How dare he?_

Naruto seethed as he followed after Yamato-taicho, skin positively itching with the need to cram a fist down Sai's throat. Insulting Sasuke was one thing, he had left the village of his own volition, but _no one_ knew what had happened to Hotaru. Naruto did not believe, for even a second, that his bestfriend had left under his own freewill. He just _wouldn't have_.

Sakura was shaking her hand out from where she had been forced to hold him back, he had not been gentle about his attempt to bludgeon the other Shinobi and as a result her arm ached a tad from blocking him. Out of all the people on the team, she was the only one who understood. The only one who knew Sasuke. Who knew how he and Hotaru were. Yamato-taicho could pretend all he wanted, read whatever he cared to about their Psyche-profiles, it didn't mean a damn thing. In this case... It was Team 7 against the interlopers. Yamato may have been a pretty awesome ninja, but he wasn't Kakashi-sensei and he wasn't welcome and his doll faced freak sidekick was even _less_ appreciated.

Still, as long as that pasty mid-rift revealing pervert freak kept his nasty gob shut, Naruto would force himself to deal with his temper issues and work together for the good of the mission.

But one word.

One word about Hotaru with that dismissive scornful tone...

Yamato was going to have to do a lot more than lock them in a wooden cage to stop him from ripping the bastard's head off with his bare hands. Konoha Ninja or not.

**X.**

Sakura was worried.

Ever since Naruto found out that his old flatmate had gone missing, he had been... more volatile than usual. His temper had been hare-trigger before, but it had been non-violent, nothing more than loudly shouting and waving his fists, throwing childish insults. It was largely the same, even when people badmouthed Sasuke-kun. But the second Miura-san was brought up, that temper, previously loud and blustery, went cold and sharp. Naruto got _violent_ to people who foul-mouthed the green eyed boy's memory.

And now, without any chance of talking to him, of trying to help him hash this problem out before it festered into something horrid, they were crouched in the undergrowth watching Yamato-taicho approach Sasori's informant. They were in a highly precarious position, and she could see the muscle spasms in Naruto's arms and legs as he otherwise remained statue still. _Unnaturally_ still.

She could only pray he didn't self-destruct until they found out the truth, or got Sasuke-kun back home.

**XI.**

Evening burned the sky orange, Sasuke paid the revoltingly nostalgic colour no mind as he kept pace with the Serpent Sannin, absently mulling over the previous encounter with his former teammates. It was impossible to forget the expression on Naruto's face when he saw him stood there in front of what had to have been his greatest secret... and curse.

At least now he had a reason for why his clan seemed to hold particular interest and disgust for the blond orphan back when they were alive. Like every adult in the village, they must have known just what Naruto had hidden away within his Chakra system. Idly he wondered how the Dobe himself felt upon learning that he was the prison for the very being that murdered his parents and so many people in the village, like his precious Iruka-sensei's parents.

But the new face. That pale skinned dark haired boy with the fake smile and smart mouth. Sasuke very nearly frowned, thinking about his replacement. That was a face he had not been expecting to step into the Team during his absence.

"Expecting Miura-kun, were you?" Kabuto asked, pulling up along side him and asking the question he had been thinking on. Dark eyes slid sideways to land on the grey haired spy with bland interest. The Medic nin shook his head in mild amusement, "Always with the poker face," he observed, baiting him. Ineffectually as always as he knew that if he kept his mouth shut and stared at him eventually Kabuto would reveal what he knew in an attempt to garner some form of reaction that he would usually receive from anyone save himself.

This time though... he merely smirked and pulled on ahead to Orochimaru's side.

Nothing more was said on the subject.

**XII.**

She had changed.

Violet hair reached her lower back in a single thick braid, a heavy weight attached to the bottom looking to be made of solid metal. She wore her Hitai Ate on her forehead and her face cleared of all make-up that he recalled she used to spend a great deal of time touching up. She wore a standard uniform, Chuunin flak jacket, black trousers, black sandals. The similarities ended there. Set on both thighs were kunai holsters, hanging from her belt was a collection of six Sealing scrolls, the bandages that wrapped around her forearms were littered with Fuuinjutsu.

And there was a rather horrid looking scar stretching across her throat under the long sleeved high collared mesh-shirt she wore under her flak jacket. Someone had slit her throat open, but clearly the woman in question was just too stubborn to die when told to.

Azami had changed. Drastically. She was taller than him now, and he would be lying if he said the sight of visible muscle on her forearms didn't intimidate him. Sakura-chan was monstrously strong, but she looked sleek and pretty like always. Azami did not have Sakura-chan's Chakra control, thus could not use the same strength techniques Baachan was famous for. Her strength was purely hard work... and he knew from experience that almost all those seal scrolls at her hip were full of heavy warhammers, zanbatou, axes, and whatever else big and deadly weapon she could get hold it. And all of them coated with some nasty poisons.

She was walking next to Hisoka-sensei who hadn't changed a single whit aside from having longer hair.

For a moment, when her brown eyes locked onto Naruto's blue, he thought she was going to attack him. He kind of welcomed it actually. But instead... she carried on walking. Following her sensei's example and blanking him. Her eyes, hazel coloured mirrors, slid off him as if he weren't even there as the pair continued down the street and past him.

Naruto turned and watched them as they walked.

Somehow... it hurt more to be dismissed by them, than it was to be hated by them.

Had he stuck around, he would have seen Hisoka-sensei turn and glance at his retreating back briefly, his eyes softening ever so slightly with regret.

**XIII.**

With his arm around a sobbing Konohamaru, Naruto stared down at the neat little grave marker, numb and confused. The words '**SARUTOBI ASUMA**' glared up at him in the afternoon sunlight like an accusing finger even as Kurenai-sensei gently laid down the bouquet of scarlet spider-lilies in her arms. The fire-lilies that were so often seen adorning the grave of the man's father. Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime. A symbolic flower for the Konoha Shinobi. Lilies were a customary flower to lay out at the graves of your loved ones, the scarlet and orange lilies had been considered a perfect symbol for the Will of Fire. You could almost always tell a Shinobi grave from a civilian one simply by the shade of the lilies left behind.

It...

It felt like every time Naruto turned his back... someone he knew died. He felt cold and sick as he tightened his grip on Konohamaru's shoulder, not even twitching as he felt the Genin turn and bury his face into his stomach and cling on tight, howling into the material. Naruto kind of wanted to join him as he stared down at Kurenai-sensei. Kurenai-sensei whose eyes were dry, and dead.

Kurenai-sensei who did not cry.

Could not cry.

Naruto made a quiet vow to himself then and there, that he would never let a friend die if he could help it. Because looking at the sad faces, being alone and losing that person forever, was more painful than being hit with the Chidori, more painful than going toe to toe with the Kyuubi. His grip tightened on Konohamaru. He wouldn't let any more of his friends die.

He had to get stronger. He had to get strong enough to bring Sasuke back. Strong enough to stand at his side and fight with him against Itachi – strong enough so that he wouldn't die fighting his brother. Strong enough so that Sakura-chan would never had to shed another tear. Strong enough that Kakashi-sensei wouldn't have to stand in front of the Memorial Stone apologising to another lost friend. Strong enough to find Hotaru and bring him home too.

He had to train harder.

**XIV.**

"Naruto, Hinata, you know what to do," Yamato-taicho intoned, their senses all prickling with the semi-hidden presence lurking behind them. Barely a few hours into their mission to locate Uchiha Itachi and already they were being confronted, the question remained to be seen whether or not the presence was hostile. Being able to hide even half that effectively against the combined senses of a Hyuuga, Jinchuuriki and his Mokuton Senchakra sense was no mean feat. They were looking at someone of Special Jounin level at minimum.

The two youngsters made their acknowledgements and Yamato lashed out, swivelling his upper body and flicking a trio of shuriken to flush their enemy out, from the corner of his eye he saw Hinata twirl around to face their ambusher with perfect grace – as expected of the Hyuuga clan – and Naruto already whirling, knees flexing ready to pounce.

Only he stopped short in shock, "You're..."

Yakushi Kabuto chuckled, "Looks like I wasn't hiding well enough..." he observed with a smile of amusement, face half hidden beneath the tan cloak he had obscured himself with.

Yamato remained tense, his disgust showing plainly on his features, "Yakushi Kabuto, eh? Back in the village, you're listed as a wanted criminal with orders to capture on sight... But for you to come to us willingly... you've got quite the nerve," he decided, practically sneering at the younger man.

Kabuto smirked, "Well, I have a little something to talk with Naruto-kun about," he excused mockingly.

The blond scowled at him, this was that Snake-Freak's right hand, he had been very close to Sasuke when he'd seen them back at the hideout. "Is it true that Sasuke killed Orochimaru?" he demanded. If anyone could confirm it properly, it would be this guy.

A disappointed, slightly pitying frown flickered into life on the grey haired traitor's face, "Heh, nothing but Sasuke, same as always. But yes... it's true." He reached around and rummaged on what was likely his hip-bag, they couldn't see under the cloak, "More importantly... I've brought a little present for you, Naruto-kun. And something else I'm sure you will love."

A black hard-back book was presented.

"And what is that?" Yamato demanded warily, making no move toward it. He'd seen mission reports of wilier ANBU members who had tricked enemies into stealing what they _thought_ was valuable information, but was really just a scroll stuffed with Explosive Notes primed to go off the second the scroll was opened. He wasn't going to make that kind of retarded mistake.

"Information on '_Akatsuki_' that had previously been gathered by our organisation," Kabuto explained, smiling in mirth, no doubt just as aware of those reports as Yamato and both approving and being amused by his caution.

"Why did you bring that?" Naruto asked, stunned.

"Why? To give it to you of course," the bespectacled Nin stated as if it were one of the most obvious things in the world.

"So... are you trying to make a deal with us for something?" Yamato asked, his tone making it very clear that there would be absolutely no deals no matter how valuable the information was.

"No. I didn't expect something like this to be much of a bargaining chip. Especially when dealing with Konoha," he explained, amusement and exasperation dripping from his tone.

"Well then, what? Unlike Orochimaru, it's not like Akatsuki's after you, right?" Yamato continued.

Kabuto's head tilted a tad, as he looked to the ground. "This is a mere present... a token of thanks for Naruto... Akatsuki is after Naruto, after all," he explained, there was something... off about his voice. "You see... After Orochimaru died... I found myself not knowing who I was, again..." he trailed off, ignoring Naruto's murmur of confusion as he spoke. "Without knowing parent of country, I was taken in by the enemy... From a young age I've moved about countries and villages as a spy. To me, things like countries, villages... they hold no firm reality in my mind. That was of course, until I found myself under the wing of Orochimaru-sama..." he threw the information book forward at Naruto-kun's feet. "But that presence once again left me. Who am I anyway... The pain of not having an identity... I'd think you should understand Naruto-kun.

"Am I Uzumaki Naruto, or am I the Kyuubi... I'm sure you asked yourself such in the past, the victim of the heartless gazes of people surrounding you. All save for... that one person." Naruto tensed up, gritting his teeth at the entirely unsubtle reference to Hotaru. "I included all I could dig up about that special individual as well. Back page... Orochimaru-sama was very interested in him, you know. Fuuinjutsu Prodigies are a once in a generation thing, and at that level... Only the Nara Clan have that level of intelligence, but they can't work Fuuinjutsu any better than any other Nin, they lack the imagination, and the drive. After Sasuke-kun's body had ended it's interim with Orochimaru-sama, Miura-kun was to be next. We were aware of his strange abilities. But without knowing more... we were hesitant to move.

"But then his Clan came for him and the point was moot. And still, even without him standing at your side... You chose to believe in your own power, that you are Uzumaki Naruto. With great persistence you overcame the gazes directed at the Kyuubi. And that's why you came to know your own identity, gaining the respect of friends along with that realisation. But I... I never attempted to surpass Orochimaru-sama, and merely clung to his great power." He pulled his hood back, and began to remove his glasses. "But now I truly understand how you felt... You made me become aware. I decided I wished to be like you as well, Naruto-kun. And for that reason..."

He slowly turned around and Naruto felt his heart stutter for a split second, felt his blood chill and his Chakra flare in response to the utter horror that soaked his system in adrenalin. "With Orochimaru-sama now integrated into this body, I plan on finding a new '_me_', one stronger than Orochimaru-sama himself." He smiled a wide, unstable grin, half of his face distorted and ruined with what looked like chemicle burns, the skin discoloured and... one of Orochimaru's freaking golden eyes set onto the left side of his face, just as wide and unstable as Kabuto's other eye.

"Finding a new me... That's a lesson you taught me. And also the reason for the thanks... Naruto-kun. Orochimaru-sama is the symbol of rebirth... and as a goal, a greatness meant to be exceeded by me, he'll continue to live inside me."

**XV.**

Naruto was in turmoil. It was easy to see as he religiously devoured the last page of that book Kabuto gave them after Hinata confirmed there were no nasty tricks hiding in the pages. Yamato had known that he was close to his former roommate, they had been inseparable almost their entire lives until they became Genin and were forced to split up thanks to dumbass political manoeuvring of the Council. But what Yamato was seeing now was not simple friendship, this was something a lot stronger... and worrying.

Iruka's observations placed the two as codependent, everyone thought he was merely being dramatic and tweaking the files so the Administration would think twice about separating them – they didn't and it happened anyway. But Yamato was beginning to think there was some substance to what Iruka claimed. Naruto was not only being as obsessive over information about Miura as he was over information on Sasuke, but he was being much more vicious to those who foul-mouthed him as well. Protective, if not possessive. He could quite easy ignore most Civilian commentary about Sasuke, stating that they didn't know the circumstances because it was classified Shinobi only, that they'd never met Sasuke, but when it came to Hotaru... People learned not to mention the Fuuinjutsu prodigy in his presence. And especially not negatively.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata questioned gently.

Yamato glanced between the two, it was easy to see Hyuuga-chan's crush, but for some reason she always held back and never approached Naruto, despite how obvious it was. And Naruto was just oblivious as he ever was. There was a queer look of resigned jealousy and hope on her face and Yamato had to pause and reconsider. Jealousy... no... He frowned a tad before shaking his head, he had more important things to be considering, like the mission, instead of the love-lives of his subordinates.

"His Clan took him away," Naruto intoned with an odd voice, confused. "They plucked him out of his hospital bed while he was still in ICU and vanished back to where they came from, through the Yomi," he explained faintly. "He... he told me he didn't have a clan. He used to have nightmares of when his parents died. And his care-taker from before Konoha. He... he woke up screaming sometimes..."

"We'll talk it over with Tsunade-sama when we get back to Konoha, Naruto. We've got a mission to follow right now." And even though he wanted to take the book off him, he knew better with the way the blond was clutching it. This was the last line he had to one of his precious people, one of his _missing_ precious people, nothing short of the five Kage coming at him at once was going to make him give up that book. And judging by the look on Hyuuga-chan's face, she knew it as well.

**XVI.**

The book slipped from nerveless fingers.

Ero-sennin... was dead?

Naruto's brain shut down. That wasn't possible. Ero-sennin was the strongest guy ever! He...

Fukasaku however, ignored Naruto's miniature break down and launched himself out of his seat, hopping to the fallen book. He could have sworn he'd... Flipping it open, his eyes widened as the backpage revealed a face he never thought he would ever see in Konoha.

"You know lil' Hari-chan?" he asked in surprise, causing all eyes to flick down to him and the page open in his hands revealing Miura Hotaru's Genin I.D. stone faced and serious staring out from the paper.

Sakura glanced at her teammate who was still stuck on his mentor's death and nodded, "Miura-kun was Naruto's bestfriend when they were in the orphanage together. He went missing a few years ago. We... we thought he turned Missing Nin, but evidence recently revealed stated that he was abducted by his former clan."

Fukasaku snorted, "The boy hasn't got a Clan anymore. He's the last of the Peveril, Potter, _and_ Evans line, with the exception of the Slytherin Heir," he stated rubbing a webbed finger across the photograph, "He looks healthier in this picture... How long ago was it taken?" he asked, looking up.

"Uhm, about three and a half years now," Sakura explained, "He went missing two years ago out of his hospital bed in the ICU."

The toad nodded, and Kakashi broke in, "You've seen Hotaru?" he demanded, eye narrowed and sharp with attention. At the mention of that name, Naruto's awareness slowly returned to the conversation, not that they noticed.

Fukasaku nodded, "Only the once in person." He hopped back into his seat, setting the book out in front of him, studying the child's profile, it looked like it had been updated recently, even if the picture was out of date, and he had to admit, the information was... accurate to some of the things he had been told. "As some of you aren't likely to know, there is a very tangible difference between the Great Summoning Clans, and the Noble Summoning Clans. Why the Slug Clan is considered only a Great Clan, even with Tsunade-chan as their Summoner. Why the Owl Clan is considered a Noble Clan even with no summoner capable of Summoning their Elders. It comes down to two simple factors.

"Great Clans are capable of utilising Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, etc. But Noble Clans are taught to harness Sen-Jutsu. Natural Chakra. The energy of nature, the world around you. That is the difference. Occasionally, Noble clans will allow Summoners they believe to possess the talent to learn how to do such. It is a long and difficult process because one must balance their Chakras. Physical, Mental, and Natural, in perfect harmony. Even Jiraiya-chan couldn't quite manage it and he is considered one of the greatest Sages of our age."

Tsunade nodded, "Orochimaru had some skill with it, but he was wholly unable to utilise it in combat. His Chakra Control had always been beyond shitty," she stated bluntly. So many people were under the impression that it was Jiraiya who's control was poor, but when you're capable of utilising Genjutsu and Ninjutsu with such a light touch that even Jounin level Kunoichi ten feet away couldn't sense when he was peeping on them... People tended to overlook his skill when he used it in such objectionable fashions.

Fukasaku nodded, "But occasionally, people are born with a natural ability to use Sen-jutsu without training. It leans more on the level of Kekkei Genkai, it happens naturally in moments of high emotion. There was one such clan, unfortunately it came to a rather violent end. The problem with natural Sen-adepts is that they _need_ training in their abilities."

"What does this have to do with Taru?" Naruto growled.

"I'm getting to that, Naruto-chan," the toad scolded, tapping Hotaru's picture. "The Noble Clans do not train themselves in Sen-jutsu. We go through to the realm of Dragons and Phoenix to learn. That world has many humans born with that natural ability. The world there is _seeped_ in Natural Chakra, though it is dying out with the industrialisation of the rest of the world. We partner with the children there and learn along side them as their Familiars while wearing false-skins to better maintain our cover."

He turned to Naruto, "This is where your friend comes in. One of my Great Grand Nephews is currently learning in the same castle as he is. He brought the young man to my attention when he recognised the use of Chakra in a place where no one had even heard of it. 'Jusho-chan is currently continuing his observations." He refrained from mentioning that those observations were not looking favourable. He needn't have mentioned it though, Naruto was apparently just as skilled as Jiraiya in reading amphibious facial features.

"Baachan! We have to go and bring him back!" the blond declared, looking at the blond woman. He shoved aside his grief over Ero-sennin, he would mourn him later, later when his bestfriend's life was so far out of reach that Naruto couldn't protect him even if he wanted to.

She shook her head, "We've got something more important than a single Chuunin to worry about right now, Naruto," she stated, her voice firm and a little pained. "Jiraiya left a message, we need to figure it out as soon as possible. Fukasaku-dono, if you would, please?" All eyes returned to the toad as he turned around and stripped his jacket off, revealing the text.

Naruto frowned, "_Ta 31, 8, 106, 7, 207_ and _15_? Wha?" he demanded.

**XVII.**

Word must have gotten out rather quickly because one moment Naruto was buying extra Storage scrolls, the next, he was lying on his back in the middle of the market place being straddled by a frantic violet haired girl. "Is it true?!" she demanded shrilly, brown eyes narrowed on him. "Is it true they've found Hotaru?"

Naruto stared up at Inoue Azami and nodded, watching as her eyes grew wet with relief. She roughly scrubbed them away. "When is the mission to retrieve him?" she demanded jumping to her feet and hauling him up without much care in her sudden determination. "I'm going with you, even if I have to bribe Hokage-sama with the best sake in my Dad's cabinets!"

Naruto didn't get a chance to answer because at that moment, Hisoka-sensei appeared and sighed, lazily separating them, "I've already put in the request, Azami-chan. Put Uzumaki-kun down, I believe he was shopping for supplies to go on said mission before you interrupted."

Azami flushed and hastily released the blond, "Sorry! Sorry, it's just..." she trailed off sadly, and Naruto was struck by how similar she looked to Sakura in that split second. He realised then that Team 7 wasn't the only one suffering, Three 3 weren't better off. Hotaru missing, Minato dead... He didn't want to think about how painful it must have been.

"Here." Naruto blinked, jolted out of his thoughts as Hisoka-sensei returned the Scroll he had just purchased. There was an odd expression on his face before, "I am... sorry for earlier in the year, Uzumaki-kun. My behaviour was inexcusable," he intoned regretfully before bowing. Naruto recoiled a little, unused to having people apologise to him, never mind admit that they were in the wrong to begin with.

"We were just upset," Azami explained, she didn't bow, but her head was lowered and she didn't look at him. "Anyone with eyes could see how much Hotaru cared about you. You broke his heart, y'know." She glared at him, resigned and tired, "If you hadn't left that day, I would have run you out myself for what you said to him." Naruto flinched. "But... everyone does dumb shit. But you had better do the best damn grovelling for forgiveness I have ever seen when we find him, you hear me Uzumaki? Until Hotaru forgives you, you're still on my shit-list!" the violet haired girl barked, pointing her finger directly at his nose.

And, too stunned to say anything, Naruto nodded.

**XVIII.**

Kakashi felt his eyebrow raise as he observed the group preparing to leave to go and rescue Miura-kun. He probably should have expected Azami-chan, and Hiso to go instead of remain behind, and judging by the look on the pair's faces when Fukasaku eyed them sceptically, they weren't going to take no for an answer even if they had to sign the Summoning Contract themselves.

Thankfully it didn't come to that, Hisoka was as on form as always when it came to Fuuinjutsu. "Reverse Summon us with this when you get there, Uz- Naruto-san," Hisoka ordered, handing over a pair of scrolls and two labelled phials of blood. He was trying hard to leave behind his old bitter feelings, and it showed in his change of address toward the blond. Kakashi couldn't stop himself from smiling wryly, stubborn as always. "Purple is for Azami, green is for me. Not too difficult to remember," he added gesturing to the scrolls. He then threw a larger scroll to Tsunade, "That's our beacon. We'll be Summoning ourselves to that Scroll once we've retrieved Hotaru," he explained to those gathered, "Tsunade-sama was kind enough to equip me with a blood-sample so we can accurately track to her location should the Scroll be destroyed for whatever reason. Better to be safe than sorry."

Fukasaku nodded in approval, "You've got a well prepared one here, Tsunade-chan," he praised.

She nodded, "Hisoka-san is one of our best Jounin, there's not a soul in the Hidden Nations who can measure up to his Fuuinjutsu knowledge. Not anymore." Jiraiya's name went unsaid.

"Come home safe, all of you," Sakura told them, smiling at the group of three.

"Will do!" Azami declared, grinning at the rosette haired girl, taking Naruto aback a little. He hadn't known those two were friends.

"Try not to trash the kitchen while I'm gone, Kakashi," Hisoka-sensei stated, narrowing dark eyes on the Hatake. Kakashi-sensei laughed a little self-consciously, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. There was a story there! Naruto scowled looking between them, feeling distinctly out of the loop as smiles were exchanged and he had no fucking clue what was gong on.

Instead, he huffed, "Let's gooo already!"

**XIX.**

First, they had to pass through to Mount Myouboku, home of the Toad Summons, before they could then pass through into the other world. The only other manner of doing so aside from through one of the Noble Summoning Clans was to walk the paths of the Yomi, not a task for the faint of heart. And there was a damn good reason as to why very few dared to risk it, and no one ever returned. It was considered suicide to go through the Yomi. Which begged the question of how Hotaru came to be in Konoha... He would have to ask when they finally found him.

"It'll take some time to get the arrangements sorted ready for your arrival. So you'll be spending the night here with me and Ma," Fukasaku explained as the group of three ducked into his little home, setting their bags and Scrolls down at the side of the door. "I'll be coming with you so Naruto-chan and I can work on his Sage trainin' while you look fer your Teammate. Once you've found him, we'll all go and work on extraction. Once you three are safe back in Konoha, Naruto-chan will finish his Sage Trainin' here with us in the Mountain."

Hisoka-sensei nodded, "Agreed, what can we expect in manners of resistance from these people? Clearly if they were willing to go between worlds in order to reclaim Miura, there must be something of great importance to him."

Fukasaku sighed and nodded, "There is. Much like Naruto-chan is important here, Hotaru-chan is just as important over there. For much the same reason." And, as they choked down the '_Special_' meal that Ma Toad cooked up for them (Hisoka-sensei and Azami actually asking for seconds, much to the Toad's glowing happiness and Naruto's horror – how could they _eat_ that?!), Fukasaku explained the story of the Potter Clan's last stand, and how the Heir, little Harry, went missing.

**XX.**

A war against non-Kekkei Genkai carriers.

An evil man bent on world domination.

The last stand of a husband and wife determined to protect their child, chosen by fate, to be a weapon against evil.

Worshipped as a hero by strangers, hated and reviled by family.

Hotaru had once been called Harry. And he had stumbled into Konoha by walking into the Yomi by accident.

"They call it the Hedge back in his country. The Faerie Paths. There's all manner o' Legend about not steppin' off the path, 'bout not making deals you're not willing to follow through. Fae are pretty much like Summons and Bijuu, but they can be some downright nasty bastards. Thankfully, some palava back in the ancient days sealed off their home, Brinbristle. There ain't no Fae wonderin' the paths anymore. S'pretty much the only reason yer friend made it to the Hidden Nations instead'a being whisked away ta work as a slave fer'em," Fukasaku explained gravely as he puffed on his pipe, the three humans lounging in the front room while Ma Toad puttered around the kitchen cleaning up after dinner. "Still, tha' kind of thing touches kids when ther' tha' young. Nightmares, tha' sort of thing."

The three nodded, familiar with Hotaru's night-terrors, though Naruto was the only one who had ever seen him awaken screaming and shaking, crying his eyes out but unable to remember what he had seen. Azami and Hisoka-sensei had witnessed the violent starts he had upon awakening, but thankfully he managed to remain silent while on missions, it was the insomnia that usually worried them when it came to Hotaru.

"There ain't many ways of getting through to the Hidden Nations. I know there's a Phoenix guardin' the paths at the castle, 'e wouldn'ta let them through tha' paths. Houka's honourable, total bleedin' heart, but 'e takes his job seriously. Which means they must'a gone through the Yomi again." He sighed and shook his head, breathing out a plume of smoke, "Yer friend is gunna need some careful handlin' when ya find 'im," he concluded grimly.

**XXI.**

Their arrival in the other world was greeted with little drama or fanfare. A puff of smoke and the night sky greeted them as they appeared amidst heavy rain in an agriculture field for... oxen? No, those weren't oxen. They had none of the muscle and they were... black and white? Where were the horns? And what were those yellow things clipped to their ears? Dang, they had huge udders.

A polite cough caught Naruto wondering attention down to the little green and brown toad in front of him. He would have dismissed it as a typical River Country toad if it hadn't given him a thumbs up at that precise moment. This must've been what Fukasaku meant when he said False Skin.

"I'm Gamajusho, your informant and your Summoner," he declared in greeting, "C'mon and pick me up, shouting from ground level is a pain!" he called and, without hesitating, Azami was the one who dropped to her knee in the mud and laid a hand out for him to crawl into. "Much better, thanks Aneki. You've got nice hands, y'know. You must use that wood-sap handsoap, am I right? That shit is great, s'one of the few things that don't irritate our skin when you pick us up," the toad rambled cheerfully as the three Ninjas, and one Toad Elder, watched.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," the Jinchuuriki greeted, "You know Hotaru?"

The little brown toad nodded, "Yup. He don't like to socialise but at least he doesn't actively snarl at my boy, Neville. They're... Well, best I can say is that your friend is tolerant of only two people in the school, my boy and a little lady in the house of Ravens. Odd thing, open to Natural Chakra in a queer way, makes her see things. She's not too far off breaking herself with it," he explained rubbing his webbed hands together unhappily.

"Can you take us there?" Azami asked, peering desperately at the little toad.

He grinned, "See those lights over there?" he asked, pointing toward an odd stone structure rising up out of the tree-line like a behemoth, "He's in there. I summoned you out here, beyond the Ward Line o' the village so the head-honcho doesn't know 'bout your arrival. Guaranteed that if he knew, he'd have you arrested ona trumped charge 'fore you can say Bijuu."

"He's that determined to keep hold of Hotaru?" Hisoka-sensei questioned.

"Bingo," the little toad confirmed, "I'm not too certain what's going on, your best bet is to ask Houka what's going on. He's usually hanging out in the man's office. Bastard used a Sen-jutsu technique to bind him to his Chakra so for the most part, Houka's gotta do as told as long as it doesn't interfere with his duties as a Guardian."

**XXII.**

The trees here were so tiny, and weak, and under-nourished! One of the branches had broken under Naruto's weight the second he landed upon it, Azami wasn't much better. Hisoka-sensei seemed to be the only one able to run free of shattering the trees beneath them, but it was no secret that the Jounin had incredible Chakra control. Leaving Azami and Naruto to chase him on the ground.

Eventually, they reached the edge of the forest where it suddenly gaped open and abruptly, unnaturally, stopped and the ground beneath them turned into rolling hills of neatly maintained grass verges. A large, placid lake was to their right, and to the left was the immense structure they had seen in the distance, it's windows bright with orange-yellow candle light.

"I'm not sure where the Hufflepuff dormitories are, so you guys are going to have to set up Camp. Your best-bet is around here. The real nasty stuff in the forest doesn't come this close. All you'll have to worry about is the students, and I have faith in your skills," Gamajusho explained from Azami's shoulder, pointing around. "The groundskeeper, Hagrid, usually wonders around with his dog, Fang. Pay them no mind, Hagrid's only avenue of combat his his physical prowess, he was expelled and doesn't know any combat techniques, plus, the dog is an utter coward. Flare your KI and he'll go running. Apart from those two is the Potions' master, he's a lot more on the Ball, consummate spy. Not a nice guy, don't get caught by him if you can help it. He'll try to disembowel you and then ask you questions while you're bleeding out and can't run away."

"Sounds like a charming fellow," Hisoka-sensei muttered under his breath.

Gamajusho snorted, "He _was_ the most hated person here, that title got stolen by the Government witch who took over the Defence Classes. Don't pay any of the Owls or Cats any note, save maybe Crooks. But he's cool. Let him taste your Chakra and he'll know you've got good intentions. Crooks is a big orange fluffy cat, kinda squashed face, scary smart for a non-summon. There are people here able to turn into animals, I'll give you a report on them ASAP, until you get it, try to avoid everyone. Genjutsus are a fantastic idea," he suggested pointedly.

**XXIII.**

They made camp that evening, choosing a trio of close together trees and making a tree-top camp in their branches, the same kind that were so effective, not to mention popular, in Kusa during the Third Great Shinobi War. Hisoka-sensei gave them an impromptu history lesson as they set them up, Fukasaku-jiji listening enthusiastically, along side Azami, as the Jounin detailed that because Konoha were so used to the towering plantation and obnoxiously huge insects, they were much more at home in the Kusa territories than their Iwa adversaries.

They knew to avoid the ground where there would be horrific and painfully biting things like Fire Ants, not named for their colouring, but more for their bite because the spots often felt as if they had been burned. That done, Azami went out and gathered food for the evening while Hisoka-sensei and Fukasaku discussed the training, and re-con plans and timing. Azami already knew how he liked to do things so all he needed to do was give her the name of the formation and she would know her place within it quite easily. A spark of jealous fizzed in Naruto's stomach, Hisoka-sensei was good at teaching, much better than Kakashi.

Speaking of.

"Sensei... Why were you at Kakashi's place, last time I visited?" Naruto asked curiously. Making the violet haired girl and the half-Nara stop and look at him from where they were sat, cross legged, in their hammocks. He shifted self-consciously under their stares.

"He really doesn't..." Azami trailed off, looking at her sensei.

He looked back, a little helpless, "Well, Sakura-chan did say he wasn't the most observant... Hotaru did the thinking between them." Naruto scowled indignantly as the pair exchanged bewildered commentary on his lack of perception, observational skills, and deductive reasoning.

He hrrumped, "Fine! Didn't want to know anyway," he grumbled, scooting down to lay in his hammock.

"Err," Azami began, "Naruto, Hisoka-sensei was there because... well, he and Kakashi-sensei are an item now. They're dating."

Naruto shot upright so quickly he upset his hammock and ended up crashing to the forest floor below.

"WHAT?"

He gaped, staring up at the two of them, leaves and twigs sticking out of his hair as the pair of them peered out over the edge of their hammocks to see if he was alright. "Hisoka-sensei with..." He pointed and crossed his arms over and looked as if someone had bludgeoned him upside the head with the Hokage's hat.

The two exchanged another look before Hisoka-sensei flashed down to his side, gently pulling him upright and picking leaves and twigs from his hair. Under any other occasion, he would have recoiled, concerned that the Jounin would start to hit on him as well, but right now, the idea of _Kakashi-sensei_ with someone, Dating, doing _anything_ with _anyone_ that _wasn't_ giggling over those books – it was utterly mind boggling!

"Well, we kind of have you to thank for that," the Jounin explained, avoiding eyecontact and flicking the last of the twigs in Naruto's hair over his shoulder, cheeks suspiciously pink. "If you hadn't told him about Jiraiya basing one of his characters on me, Kakashi wouldn't have even given it a passing thought." He shrugged a shoulder, "Getting trashed in a bar and waking up with a horrid hangover in bed with him was not how I envisioned any relationship starting, but it worked out towards the end. I had to move in because one of my Seals got fouled up by an infiltrator. Blew the whole apartment and the two above it sky high. He offered me a futon if I promised to keep my Fuuinjutsu experiments to the training grounds or the R&D labs and well..." Dark eyes glanced over and amusement curled on the Jounin's face, "I think I'll stop there, you look traumatised enough as it is."

Azami giggling overhead certainly did not help.

**XXIV.**

Hisoka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei... wow. That... Wow.

Less shocking, but just as surprising, and horrifying, was finding out that Azami and Sakura had been together during his trip outside the village.

"It was just teenage experimentation, y'know?" the violet haired Kunoichi explained as they crouched on the river, thrusting spears made of tree-branches with kunai tied to the end into the water, stabbing fish and gathering them in rough woven reed bags that Azami always brought on missions for just such occasions. "She's still in no way over Sasuke, but, hey, we were both curious, available, and open minded enough to give it a go." She sniffed at one of the fish on her spear and recoiled when it tried to slap her in the eye with a fin. "Then word got back that you were returning, and like a herald of shit about to hit the fan, we both agreed that we needed to break it off because if you were coming back, that meant the Akatsuki drama was likely to start up again. Neither of us wanted to juggle that paper-bomb and a relationship at the same time.

"Still, the last few months I've been going steady with Tenten, my weapon-princess from Team Gai. You know the one, looks like she's got panda ears because of her hair buns." Naruto stared, a little stunned by the smitten grin that stretched onto the violet haired girl's face. "She so kicked my ass when I pointed that out to her."

Naruto could only laugh a little, bewildered and a little terrified of Team 3's romantic inclinations.

**XXV.**

The next morning, while Naruto trained with Fukasaku in gathering Sen-Chakra, Azami and Hisoka-sensei were scouting out the castle which, as it turned out, was an Academy for Sen-jutsu users. Ages eleven up to seventeen. Which was... a disgusting waste of the best learning years possible but... maybe it was tradition, or something about their power which meant it didn't settle down until the onset of puberty.

Students were visibly separated into four categories, they seemed to group together based on them as well. Those in red and gold uniforms tended to be louder, more active, and from what they observed, unable to back down from fights involving the group with the green and silver uniforms. They held themselves like Clan heirs and nobles from minor Daimyous, superior, arrogant, and without the ability to back it up. Or so it seemed. Judging by the wary suspicion the students in green and silver received, they could back it up, but likely as not with something akin to a Kinjutsu.

The students in blue and bronze seemed to be perpetual loners more interested in their books, or arguing over Jutsu theory if what they could hear was correct. They would have fitted in at the R&D department, Hisoka-sensei decided watching them.

It was the other house that caught their attention, the yellow and black one. Not only because they seemed to be the most social house, but they behaved more like the Ninja of Konoha when socialising. There were definitely some strong bonds there, they were also the house more likely to reach out to the others, though they did avoid the green and silver house with even more vehemence than any of the others.

It was in the last house... that they found him.

It was hard to miss the way the usually sociable and friendly students would stop talking and recoil away from him as he passed, books underarm.

Hisoka winced and bit his lip when he saw his former student. Azami looked close to tears as they exchanged a glance. They needed to talk to Fukasaku and Naruto before they could go storming in there. But first... The two settled in and watched their former teammate, their precious firefly as he settled under a tree and laid out his books and several bound sheafs of parchment, a wax tablet, and then he began to work with a familiar scowl set onto his face.

It was enough for Azami and Hisoka to relax.

**XXVI.**

The next day, Naruto insisted on accompanying them to see his bestfriend.

He wished he hadn't when he finally got to see him.

Hotaru had been taller than him when Naruto left, not by much, two inches or so, but he had always been thinner. And now he had gotten even more thin, emaciated even. His head would have barely brushed Naruto's chin had they been standing side by side.

Barely even hitting 5'0" in height, and thinner than Naruto remembered ever seeing him, thinner than Naruto remembered seeing Sakura-chan or Ino when they were on their stupid diets. Naruto's stomach twisted painfully when he realised that he could probably touch his thumb and his finger together around Hotaru's wrist and still have space left-over. His hair had gotten longer, falling down his back in a sheet of dark chocolate black, somehow seeming lank and stringy as the Chuunin sat on the grass, books and papers around him, ignoring the students as they ran to the castle and their lessons. His skin had been lightly tanned when Naruto left, it was pale and almost sallow now with dark smudges under his eyes, revealing that sleepless nights and insomnia had claimed him again.

His uniform was oversized hiding everything else from sight, but it was hard to ignore the fact that tied upon his upper-arm was a strip of white, all the more eye-catching and jarring for the colour contract against the black robes, stitched ever so carefully onto the fabric was... the Konoha leaf, in green.

**XXVII.**

"I got ya list!" Gamajusho shouted, _from above them_**.**

The group of Ninja jerked and looked up, spotting the brown toad perched... on the back of a white owl? She swept down and landed beside Naruto, eyeing him severely with golden eyes. "Uzumaki Naruto," she spoke, because that voice couldn't have been anything but female, "You certainly have taken your sweet time getting here," she declared, clacking her beak in displeasure.

"Ignore Yuki. She's a regular stick in the mud," Gamajusho declared, ignoring the irate bark the owl sent his way as he hopped onto Naruto's head. "We brought the information. Took a while to get it. Houka should be joining us in a little bit." Gamajusho leaned forward to Naruto's ear, "He's got a bit of a thing for Miss Frigid over there," he whispered, making Naruto look at the owl a little more carefully. She was certainly pretty with her pure white and black speckled feathers and large golden eyes, she was sleek and powerful, plump, but she was sat straight, looking down at him with all the countenance of a queen. He could kind of see where Gamajusho would call her Miss Frigid. There was definitely a cold glare in her eyes.

"A stick in the mud who can eat you, Gamajusho. Remember that," she declared regally, ruffling her feathers pointedly.

"Yeah, yeah. You wouldn't though, you love me," the toad declared cheekily, and Naruto was treated to the sight of an owl sighing and rolling her eyes. He didn't think owls could do that, but apparently that didn't mean much when you were a Summon learning Sen-jutsu in a castle in another world. Huh... that does sound unreasonable now that he's thought about it. "Yuki's got the papers," he declared and watched as Hisoka-sensei carefully untied them from the owl's legs.

**XXVIII.**

Houka was an honest to god Phoenix. Naruto was star struck the moment the scarlet, orange and gold bird appeared in a burst of flame. He was also pretty friendly.

"I wish I could help," the Phoenix said from where he was perched beside Yuki who seemed to be doing her best to ignore him by glaring at Naruto. "The old man up at the castle tries his best for the so called greater good, but he wilfully blinds himself to the child's suffering so that neither of them get attached to one another. The truth of the matter is, if things are to go the way he wants, the child in question will die. No questions asked. He will be murdered by the man who killed his parents. That scar on his forehead is very much like the Bijuu seal on young Uzumaki-kun's stomach. It holds one part of a whole. In this case, it holds a sliver of Voldemort's soul. As long as that sliver in anchored to the world via the child, he cannot die."

Naruto scowled, a dark and unpleasant feeling rising up in his gut.

"Not our problem," Azami sneered, saving Naruto from saying it as she folded her arms and glared at the Phoenix. "Hotaru dying? Get another sacrificial lamb, he's ours and I'm sure as hell not letting my kid brother die for the bastards who stole him from his fucking hospital bed without so much as a by your leave!" she steadily grew louder throughout her tirade until she was actually screaming at the now rather startled Phoenix, and highly approving owl.

"I agree entirely," the snowy owl declared, "Hotaru has been researching a way to return for the last two years, but things aren't as easy as just picking him up and reverse Summoning him back home."

Houka nodded gravely, "He wouldn't still be here if that were the case," the phoenix agreed. "On the back of his neck, is basically a leash. A rune used back during the Viking era when slavery was very popular." No one paid Naruto any mind when he growled, Kyuubi's Chakra hissing through the air, it was to be expected. "He cannot leave the castle grounds without experiencing severe pain, even passing out when it overloads his sensory perception. It also renders him incapable of fighting back. The child has tried to kill Dumbledore and his staff members repeatedly but the Rune shuts it down immediately, paralyses, and sets every pain receptor he has on fire.

"One member of staff is currently having a field day with that restriction. Hence why you are more likely to find him outside than within the castle. His health has deteriorated to dangerous levels."

"It wouldn't have gotten so bad if you would _cease_ trying to drug his food!" the Owl shrieked at him, making the phoenix hop away nervously as she fluffed herself up furiously. "My human is not an idiot! He can smell the compulsion drugs in that swill you call edible food! Of course he isn't going to eat it when he knows he'll become little better than a puppet!"

She turned away from the phoenix and clacked her beak at Naruto, "Take him home, Uzumaki Naruto. Take my boy home and the Owl Clan will be indebted to you."

**XXIX.**

That night, Naruto couldn't sleep.

Both Azami and Hisoka had trained themselves to sleep on command and were quietly snoozing away in their hammocks with Yuki keeping watch as this was her usual waking hours – her species being diurnal but leaning more on nocturnal. But Naruto kept tossing and turning, stomach twisting painfully as he tried to banish the mental image of how thin, and pale, and ill Hotaru looked. Coupled with the knowledge that he was not eating because all his food was drugged...

He sat up and looked over to Yuki who seemed to arch an eyebrow at him, not that she had them but he got that impression. "Can you take me to him?" he asked softly.

The owl smirked a tad, bringing her flight feathers forward and... _made handseals_ with them! It took him a second to recognise them, and by then, a second Yuki had popped into existence. The clone took flight and Naruto rolled out of his hammock to give chase.

"The make up of the castle is a little screwy," the owl clone explained as they came to a pause in the treeline, "The portraits, armour, and staircases move. Sometimes the doors aren't doors, just walls pretending to be doors so they get some attention. Some of the steps are traps designed to catch out of bounds students, only it doesn't work because they all know where they are. And there are teachers patrolling the halls, not many so it's easy to sneak past them, but for regular students they're a pain. C'mon. There's only one window into the Hufflepuff house, and that's in the Common Room's roof."

The owl fluttered off and Naruto kept pace behind her, hugging low to the ground as he ran. Eventually they had to climb the side of the castle and into one of the inner court-yards where they could see a slanted window set on a domed roof over the wall. "That one, it's for owl access," Yuki explained as she fluttered down to it. "Once inside, I'll take you to his room, but you'll have to break in yourself. They gave him a private room after he nearly slit one of his roommate's throats. The door is trapped and sealed via Fuuinjutsu."

Naruto nodded and watched as the owl pulled at the shutter, the magic inherent in it recognising an owl demanding entrance and opening, giving Naruto and the Owl Kage Bunshin their chance to dart in. Naruto dropped like a stone into the middle of the room and immediately dove to the side, moving too quickly for untrained eyes to catch as he rolled under a table, and the two prefects who had been previously doing their best to lose their virginity on the couch, looked up at the thud of his feet on the floor.

"_What was that?_" the girl asked.

Yuki hooted pointedly from her place on the back of one of the chairs, making the pair stifle squeaks and whip around to spot her. She fluffed herself up and eyed them disdainfully. All the while she kept their attention, Naruto took his chance to give the room a look over and point to the far staircase questioningly. Yuki bobbed in a nod before spreading her wings and taking off, cuffing the fornicating students reprimandingly as she passed.

Naruto flashed after her, too quickly for them to see while they cradled their bruised heads, muttering resentfully about pushy owls as he darted up the staircase that Yuki arced through.

"This one," she declared, as if Naruto couldn't see the Fuuinjutsu carved across the door, or sense Hotaru behind it.

Yuki puffed out of existence, and Naruto laid a hand upon the door, calling up his Chakra.

It clicked open, and a bitter regretful smile crossed Naruto's lips. Hotaru always made locks that Naruto could get into.

Pushing the door open, Naruto half expected to have a variety of pointy weapons aimed at him, which was probably why the sudden appearance of a Kunai aimed at his eye didn't take him off guard as much as it would have otherwise.

His hands flashed up and grabbed the blade, spinning them both around, twisting the other's arm up between his shoulderblades as he shoved him against the wall. Hotaru hit hard with a muffled grunt of discomfort, turning and glaring over his shoulder, Naruto grinned cockily as green eyes widened in recognition.

"Miss me?"

"Na...Ruto?"

The Jinchuuriki's smile softened as he released his old friend, "Yeah... Sorry I took so long."

Hotaru clutched the kunai to his chest, staring at Naruto with eyes the colour of the sweet-grass outside the orphanage, his hair was mussed, his skin was so pale it almost glowed in the dark. Thin, pale lips opened a moment, as if he were going to speak and something in Naruto's stomach flipped when he realised what that emotion in Hotaru's eyes was... something his friend had never _ever_ directed at him.

Fear.

**XXX.**

Two years.

He had changed so much. They both had.

Naruto was taller than him now. 5'4". He had filled out too. Jiraiya must have been feeding him well. He was a lot stronger and faster than Hotaru remembered. He still looked as if he'd never heard of a hairbrush. And the idiot still wore vivid Kill Me Orange. His face had lost the baby-fat that clung to it, whiskers arching across his cheekbones, long black eyelashes framing eyes that were still too blue to be real. Hotaru's throat clogged and he could feel his eyes stinging, he swallowed, trying to force it back but... _fuck_...

He could feel himself starting to shake, and couldn't stop himself from flinching and squeezing his eyes shut when Naruto moved towards him, cringing backward against the wall.

Naruto swallowed, heart tearing when Hotaru flinched back, cringing away from him when he moved forward. What had they done to him to make him fear like this? The blond immediately pulled the Chuunin into a tight hug, squeezing him tightly and burying his face in Hotaru's long dark hair. He heard a jagged intake of breath, and a hiccup that didn't quite muffle the wet sniff that heralded an onset of tears.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry 'Taru. I'm sorry I shouted, I'm sorry I left, I'm so, so, so, sorry I couldn't find you sooner," Naruto rasped his voice breaking as he babbled, feeling Hotaru's fingers dig into the fabric of his jacket with desperation.

"It's really you, you're really here," the smaller of the pair sobbed hoarsely, not caring about their old fight, not caring about how badly Naruto had wronged him. Only that he was there now. That he wasn't dreaming. "You're real!"

"I'm real," Naruto agreed tightening his grip as Hotaru started crying in earnest, face buried against his shoulder.

**XXXI.**

Hotaru was sleeping solidly, there was what looked like a window giving off light, but it seemed to be a kind of Genjutsu instead of an actual window. Naruto could hear the other students moving around outside the door, but he didn't move a muscle, nor disturb his bestfriend. Taru had been exhausted before Naruto even arrived, the emotional roller-coaster proved to be just too much and the older boy ended up crying himself into sleep right then and there against Naruto's shoulder. And like hell he was going to leave his friend's side so soon after finally getting back to him.

Like old times, Naruto had bundled them both into the bed, Hotaru using his chest as a pillow as Naruto guarded his sleep, running his fingers through the Chuunin's hair. Naruto took his time to look around the room, it wasn't very big. A bed, a desk, a trunk at the foot of the bed, and a book case. The room was neat, tidy, the desk had books and papers littered across it, each of them crammed with Hotaru's tight hand-writing and various Fuuinjutsu theories and a strange alphabet Naruto had no chance in hell of ever making heads or tails of.

There were no weapons, or scrolls, or... He looked around sadly. Such a bare and impersonal little room.

Then again, he couldn't blame him, if Hotaru really hated it here, he would have never even tried to make it homelier, it would have felt like a betrayal of Konoha if he had.

Instead, he smiled and held his friend even tighter, dragging the blankets over the both of them as he kicked his shoes off and pulled his headband off, getting himself comfortable as he squirmed down beside the other boy and cuddled up. Hotaru didn't even stir.

**XXXII.**

Someone was pounding on the door, "Mister Potter! You will answer the door, this instant!" a shrill female voice demanded, making Naruto cringe and glower at the door. Hotaru whimpered a little in his sleep, digging himself deeper into his blankets, face scrunching up.

"I know you're in there, Mister Potter!" the voice continued, "You have until the count of three! One... Two... _Three_! ... Fifty points from Hufflepuff!" the voice shrieked through the wood. "If you aren't out here within ten seconds, Mister Potter, that will be another fifty points and a months' of detention with me!"

Naruto growled glutterally, his eyes narrowing on the door while Hotaru dragged a pillow over his head to drown the noise out.

"Can I shut her up?" he demanded lowly.

"No," was the muffled response, "She's the under-secretary to the Minister. Pretty much the Daimyou's head advisor," Hotaru explained throatily, muffled by the pillow. Naruto groaned, the two of them ignoring the woman as the blond flopped back onto the bedding and dragged his bestfriend back against him.

"_If you don't open this door immediately, I __will__ use force, Mister Potter!_" the Under-Secretary shrilled.

Naruto finally got to his feet, flinching a little as bare feet hit the stone floor, he made his way to the door and paused, hand outreached to the knob. A slow grin spread across his lips as he realised there was more than one person stood outside. His inner prankster was just _begging_ to be let out on this one. It would be awesome.

He quickly went through the hand-seals for Henge before pausing. Hotaru wasn't... He wasn't into girls. He'd made that pretty clear when... yeah. Naruto slowly lowered his fingers, listening to the growing crowd outside the door before shrugging and yanking off both shirt and jacket.

He then yanked the door open, putting his best sleepy scowl on.

**XXXIII.**

Dolores Umbridge had been teaching at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for a little over two months now, and she quite honestly did not know what to make of her main reason for taking up the post. Dumbledore and his damnable plans to take over the Ministry were easy to see everywhere, teaching students magic more advanced than they should know, slowly tricking them into trusting him absolutely until they would take his word over the Ministry's with that twinkly-eyed grandfather crap.

But it was Mister Potter who continued to confuse and vex her.

He was hardly a child. He was far smarter than she was, she could accept that, for Circe's sake, she was fairly certain he was the smartest individual that Hogwarts had seen since Rowena herself. But he was so viciously antisocial. She hadn't known that Hufflepuffs came in that variety. He utterly refused to have anything to do with anyone in Hogwarts and focused all of his time and energy upon the pursuit of Wards, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Potions... anything that took his fancy, but the sheer furore he had when addressing Ancient Runes...

The boy was frighteningly intelligent. And he was clearly no Dumbledore's Man. Any time the Headmaster came near him, the barely restrained violence in the boy's posture and face was impossible to ignore, along with the white-knuckled grip he had on any manner of implement. He _hated_ Albus Dumbledore with more of a passion than perhaps the Dark Lord. If only the Ministry could take him under their wing, but no, Dumbledore did not share his toys, no matter what. And it seemed the boy had nothing but disdain for them if the mild sneer she was treated to was any indication when she offered him their protection.

Skipping her classes though, would not be tolerated. She didn't _care_ if the other teachers merely left him to his own devices, clearly aware that he would not be gracing their chambers. Another point to bring up to Cornelius, the Professors of Hogwarts were refusing to do the duties they were paid to be doing.

So she had made a point of marching down to the Hufflepuff Commons once her lessons for the day were finished, and ensuring that the young man was fully aware that his behaviour would no longer be tolerated within Hogwarts.

She ended up spending twenty minutes screaming at a locked door that none of her spells would work again, those odd swirling patterns would bleed her magic off and nothing, not even blasting curses, would open that blasted thing!

And then it opened.

"_Finally, Mister Potter! I don't know where you learned your... man-ners..._" she trailed off, coming face to chest with what had to be the most ripped young man she had ever seen.

The corridor went silent.

He wasn't all that tall, but he was stocky and well built. Wild golden hair stuck up at all angles, looking distinctly sleep mussed. Lightly tanned skin stretched taut over thick well defined muscle, not a single scar in sight. He was shirtless, dressed only in what looked to be a hastily thrown on pair of orange trousers. Blue eyes sleepily glared down at her from a whiskered face, and Dolores felt her mouth go dry eyed raking up and down the miles of bare skin revealed to her. That was... that was a six-pack there.

The young man scratched his stomach, leaving thin red stripes and pulling her attention down where... yes, a small almost unnoticable trail of hair went from his bellybutton down to those low-hanging trousers.

"_Ahh... Um..._" she spluttered, stunned and unable to really pull her eyes away from the stranger's well-toned body.

"Can you stop shouting? We were sleeping," Naruto grunted, making a show of yawning.

The clearly foreign words had Dolores shaking herself out of her ogling, "_J-just whom are you and what are you doing in Mister Potter's bedchambers?_" she demanded, drawing herself up to her not-all that impressive height.

"_Would've thought that was obvious, Miss,_" muttered one of the male students behind her, wide eyed and staring at the strange blond that had just appeared out of their most reclusive student's room.

"I can't understand a damn word you're saying," Naruto told them cheerfully, grinning lazily at them as he folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe. Just think Kakashi-sensei, that _never_ fails to piss people off in these kinds of situations. "Either way, can you shut up? Your screeching is giving me earache," he continued blithely, making a show of sticking his little finger in his ear and twisting it around a bit, and then smirking at her with as much of Sasuke's bastard-yness as possible.

Dolores went vivid red, not understanding, but blushing all the same at the look the blond gave her.

And the moment was broken when a second person appeared, "What the hell are you doing? I thought you were trying to keep a low profile?" Hotaru demanded sharply, grabbing the blond's ear and completely ruining the cool factor as he yanked him down to his level. Kami-damnit! He had them fucking eating out of his hands! Naruto winced, cringing away from the glint of promised violence in those eyes.

"She was annoying me! Besides, you heard her! She was going to bust down the door and we would've been caught anyway and at least this way people know me so I can come and see you and OW! STOP PULLING!" he yelped, whining as Hotaru dead-pan glowered at him, yanking and twisting his ear.

"_Mister Potter! Whom is this young man?_" Dolores demanded, staring at the odd interaction of the two. They were clearly close.

Hotaru released Naruto's ear, watching as the blond straightened up, rubbing it with a pout. "That hurt," he complained.

"Oh man up," was the brusque response, Naruto sulked, clearly Hotaru had become a lot less patient over the years, or would that be less forgiving toward Naruto? He could be a _right_ little bastard to those he took an irrational dislike to. He then turned to Dolores, posture becoming defensive to such a degree that Naruto stopped rubbing his ear and glared at her as well, "What do you think, Ruto? The truth, or bullshit?" he asked, staring the woman down.

"Go with the truth. I'm here to take you home," the blond stated, wrapping a possessive arm over the smaller male's shoulder and bearing his teeth at the other students, some of whom drew back in alarm when they spotted the remarkably pointed incisors.

"_No one you need to know,_" Hotaru declared bluntly, he could have said more but Umbridge was already talking over him.

"_I am the Hogwarts High Inquisitor! You, do not get to decide what I need to know! Now tell me this instant or it's a hundred more points from Hufflepuff and Detention for the next three months!_" she exclaimed shrilly.

Green eyes narrowed, "_Someone who is here to take me home. And that __is__ all you need to know about the matter._" And with that said, before she, or anyone else could get a word in, Hotaru whipped around, shoved Naruto back inside, and slammed the door behind them.

Naruto swallowed nervously as green eyes glared up at him. "We need to talk."

**XXXIV.**

Naruto winced, using the odd paste Hotaru had thrown at his head to dab his bruise, it was healing, but it didn't change the fact that it was there and it hurt. Right now, his bestfriend was in the shower further down the corridor.

The sun had long set, and the others were going to be pretty concerned with his being missing the whole day, but they would forgive him. He and Hotaru had spent several hours just talking, they chattered about Konoha, that seemed to be the subject that Hotaru was most interested in, how everyone had changed, if they were okay. He had been just as surprised as Naruto to hear about Kakashi-sensei and Hisoka-sensei becoming an item, less so about Azami-chan and Sakura-chan experimenting with one another. They chatted about how Naruto found him, about Konoha believing he was a Missing Nin – which he had been expecting, in honesty, he had been waiting for the day when Hunter Nin came for him, praying for it in actuality. The thing around his neck did more than stop him from attacking other people, or leaving the school grounds, it stopped him from taking his _own_ life as well. And he had tried.

And then... then they talked about before.

Awkward, stumbling, they both managed to lay their feelings and reasonings out on the table. Everything was in the open now. And Naruto knew the truth.

Hotaru had _always_ had feelings for him. Even when they were in the Orphanage. He didn't know what they were, being too young to really understand that kind of attraction, but his feelings had only gotten stronger and more certain as they got older. And Naruto felt his stomach drop out when he remembered all those times when Hotaru had tried, actually _tried_ to help him get that date with Sakura-chan. Advising him to get her flowers on White-Day instead of that albino toad which freaked her out. Pointing out that she didn't like ramen, so he should get her something like Anmitsu or Dango in miterashi sauce, which were her favourite foods.

And opposite, Naruto who could never be very clear with his feelings because he didn't know how to explain them, or understand them himself, Hotaru knew that his bestfriend would always be his bestfriend. Arguments or not. Naruto would never abandon him.

And they came to an understanding.

And Hotaru decked him, just the once, because he swore he would in the hospital because Naruto was a heartless bastard who ran away from his problems. Or at least, that was how he felt at the time. And Naruto let him, wincing slightly as a light bruise formed. Mentally, he thanked all the Kami on high that Hotaru wasn't as strong as he used to be.

**XXXV.**

"Well, first things first," Hisoka-sensei declared, his lap full of clingy Chuunin. The reunion between the last members of Team 3 was a tear-jerker, Hotaru couldn't come into the forest because that was the boundary of his Runes, but that didn't stop them from finding somewhere else at the back of the Grounds-keeper's pumpkin patch where Hotaru was tackled by Azami who kissed his forehead, cheeks and nose before punching him and crying everywhere. Hisoka-sensei had been very restrained but handsy. He had hugged his Chuunin tightly and then absolutely refused to let him go, even sitting down with his arms still wrapped around his student, who was just as happy with the arrangement and unwilling to let go as his sensei.

"We need to figure out a way of getting rid of those seals on your neck," the Jounin stated, "Fukasaku-dono, are you familiar with any of them?" he asked hopefully to the Elder Toad who was perched on Hotaru's back, examining them.

"Yup, I recognise them. And they ain't the types that can be removed by anyone but the original caster."

Hotaru sighed, "Wrong. They _can_be released by someone else. I've spent the last two years devouring every Runes text I could get my hands on, it is possible. Hellishly difficult, but it can happen. I'm almost there. I just need to keep working."

Fukasaku raised a long, bushy eyebrow, "Let me see your notes, a fresh perspective can do you a world of good."

Naruto grinned as Hotaru revealed his collection of notes, and the three of them, Hisoka-sensei, Hotaru, and Fukasaku-jiji started talking and arguing Fuuinjutsu theory and Runic Sequences. Surrounded by the giant pumpkins, it was almost like being home again.

**XXXVI.**

Hotaru supposed he should have expected this as he sat within the Library, pouring over his papers and books, Naruto was off training with Fukasaku while Hisoka-sensei was steadily devouring every text he could get his hands on in relation to Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, three Kage-Bunshin working at the same time. Azami was sat in the chair beside them, picking her nose and balancing a kunai on her fingertip, glaring at anyone who dared look her way. And given the hideous scar across her throat and her _purposely_ revealing clothing, that was a lot of people.

"_Mister Potter,_" the unwelcome voice of Professor McGonagall interrupted the soothing calm of the library, she seemed somewhat taken aback as all four of Azami's chair legs hit the ground with chilling finality and four identical heads looked up from various looks to look directly at her. Andfinally, green eyes locked with her own.

She tried not to be taken aback by the sudden and radical change in the boy. His skin was no longer so sallow looking, the dark smudges under his eyes were no longer so pronounced, he looked as if he had finally had a good meal (He had, Azami was a damn good cook over a campfire), and a solid night's sleep (half a night and most of the day, then about seven hours of being up followed by nine of being asleep, yes, Hotaru had slept very well curled up against his bestfriend). His hair was pulled back into a long horse-tail, the same kind as the older man she could see peering out from behind the shelves along with his three other siblings. He was not wearing the uniform.

"_The headmaster wants to see you. Password is Blood-Pops_," she declared, trying not to stare at the odd collection of intruders, Albus had advised her against aggravating them for her own safety. They would apparently take no action against her or the students unless Mister Potter was harmed. She knew her old Transfiguration teacher well enough by now to be able to tell that he was hoping to manipulate the strangers into fighting against the Dark Lord, that they needed their expertise in this area. Mister Potter had nearly taken the entire Auror Department down by himself, injured, and furious. It was a surprise attack that brought him down. These people, fully healed, aware, and likely as not very unhappy with the way they abducted Mister Potter, would be less easy to tame.

"_Tell the Headmaster he can go choke on a dick,_" the violet haired girl sneered, making the woman rear back as if struck. "_He's not going -_," whatever was about to be said cut off as Mister Potter laid a hand ontop of her own, silencing her as he got to his feet and laid his papers and books down.

"Protect them. They aren't my only copies, but they're the most recent. I could be set back a month or so if they get destroyed," Hotaru explained handing them over, "They've done it before. I don't doubt that they'll try it again."

"Bastards," Azami grunted before rolling the papers and then activating one of her storage seals, making it pop away into her bandages.

"Sensei? Would you please join me?" he asked, looking at the real Hisoka-sensei who nodded, setting his book back on the shelf and moving forward.

"_He meant for you to come alone, Mister Potter,_" Professor McGonagall pointed out.

Hisoka-sensei smiled gently, "_I am afraid that is quite impossible, Madam. Hotaru- ah, my apologies, Harry here is my subordinate. As his Jounin sensei, legal guardian, and someone who cares about him a great deal more than anyone else in this castle, I will be going with him,_" his voice was firm, and inescapably edge with a warning. Minerva felt her stomach twist with worry when she realised that Albus was messing around with something he was entirely unprepared for.

This man would kill for Mister Potter. And he would do so happily, at the first moment it became necessary to do so.

She swallowed and nodded, following after the two of them and then peeling away to her office. Closing the door, she leaned against it and breathed. "Tilly," she called, watching as the Elf popped to life in front of her, "Albus must have given one of you an order just now to destroy Mister Potter's notes, please, please, please do not do it. They are being guarded by an individual who _will_ kill you. I'm overriding Dumbledore's orders on this in accordance with Helga's Charter."

**XXXVII.**

"_Ahh, Harry, do come in,_" a jovial voice from the other side of the door exclaimed. The room was not what Hisoka had been expecting, it was very red. Full of books and whirling silver machines. The old man behind the desk would have put him in mind of the Sandaime if it weren't for the complete lack of muscle toning, and that disgusting grandfatherly act. Sarutobi was genuinely a friendly old man, but he didn't try to play the grandfather role to anyone but those Ninja who needed that familial support, needed to feel connected to someone. And who better than the Hokage? Better to him where they would remain loyal to the village, than someone else and end up being a traitor. Missing Nin often led painful, short, and harsh lives. Not an existence that Hisoka would wish on anyone.

Hotaru stepped in, his eyes sliding to half-mast with dislike, a hand behind his back quickly signing that he shouldn't look the old man in the eye. "_My name is Hotaru Miura, Headmaster. Use it_," he commanded.

"_Oh now, Harry, your parents gave you that name, it would be a shame to_ -

"_I don't care,_" the Chuunin interrupted calmly, "_We've had this discussion almost every time I step through those doors. You know I do. Not. Care. What did you want to see me about?_" he asked bluntly.

The old man's face tightened a moment with irritation as he laced his fingers together, "_Very well, then. To the heart of the matter. Your mysterious guests. You know that they are not allowed on grounds, Harry. I must ask you to have them leave._"

Hotaru eyed him with sceptical dislike and a silence stretched out in front of them.

Several minutes later, the Headmaster shifted, "_Did you not hear me, my boy? I asked you to_-

"_I heard perfectly well, thank you. Is that all?_" Hotaru asked delicately.

The old man nodded, a little bewildered, but clearly pleased. Clearly he thought he must have won that argument.

"_Good. My answer is no._" And with that Hotaru got to his feet and made for the door.

**XXXVIII.**

That night, Naruto didn't bother going to their camp, he meandered into the Hufflepuff commons, bold as brass, not even bothering to hide himself as he passed them by with a cheery grin. The students all staring at him as if he were a freak of nature. Nothing really new in that respect.

He flared his Chakra as he pushed Hotaru's door open and stepped inside, grinning when the dark haired male looked up, towel around his waist, hair dripping wet, leaving dark patches on the rugs.

"Ever hear of knocking?" the Chuunin snarked with a frown. Naruto grinned, leaning against the doorway and not bothering to close it – letting one of the passing Hufflepuff's get an eyeful of his bestfriend.

"Why on earth would I do that?" Naruto teased with a broad grin as he heard the spluttered gasp behind him.

Hotaru raised an eyebrow, "If you keep pulling pranks like that, Naruto, I _will_ return the favour," he stated sharply, ignoring the gawping Hufflepuff as he dried his hair off and dropped the towel, completely nonchalant to his naked state as he hunted for a clean change of clothing.

Naruto whistled, "Damn, you've lost so much weight," he observed sadly.

"Hazards of having your food spiked. I try to forage and hunt, but it's difficult when the forest is off limits. He did that on purpose," the green eyed male explained as he pulled on his clothing. "Are you finished with training for the day?" he asked curiously.

Naruto nodded, "Yup. Came to see if you wanted to join me later, I need a sparring partner!" he added with a cheeky grin.

"And of course it has nothing to do with the fact that you'll finally be able to score a win on me, huh?" he added with a sarcastic smirk. They were purposefully ignoring their one-man audience as they bantered back and forth. Naruto kept the subjects light, there was still something terribly vulnerable and brittle in Hotaru's eyes whenever he looked at him, and the Jinchuuriki was becoming uncomfortably aware of how much power he held over his bestfriend, whom had always seemed so powerful and strong. Hotaru had been the rock he depended on for so many years, he had never realised that the reverse was also true.

Things weren't going to go back to normal, no matter how much they joked about it, no matter how much they tried to _act_ like the last three years hadn't happened, like their fight in the Hospital hadn't happened. Naruto was more aware of that truth than he had been about any other. The realisation that he had the power to destroy his bestfriend was terrifying to him. And he knew he was hamhanded, knew he was an idiot, knew he could very easily, very carelessly, severely hurt his friend again.

And Hotaru knew it too. But they both wanted it so badly. Wanted things to go back to the way they were so very badly that they were forcing it.

It felt almost unnatural.

**XXXIX.**

"Ne, Sensei, who'd win in a fight between you and Kakashi-san?" Hotaru asked one afternoon, he was sat on the lawn outside, watching as Naruto and Fukasaku did their sage training, books around him with his sensei now combing through his notes.

"Kakashi," the half-Nara stated without hesitation.

"Really? I would have thought it were you. He's just copies his Ninjutsu, you really study and master them," Hotaru pointed out, remembering the old gossip between Shinobi and the discussion between him and Naruto that one afternoon at Ichiraku ramen.

Hisoka-sensei snorted, "If he were solely relying on the Sharingan, then yes, I might win. Might. I'm a Fuuinjutsu specialist, Hotaru. In a straight up fight, no time to prepare, _most_ Jounin would wipe the floor with me." He smiled at the sceptical look on his student's face, "Nice though it is to know you have faith in me, Hotaru. Kakashi is just a better Shinobi. He's just as smart as me, and now that he's been training properly, he's also gotten stronger. Though thankfully I still top him in speed. Three years ago, I would have won any fight that happened between us, that's simply because he stopped training seriously after he left ANBU. He got lazy."

"But what about Jutsus? You can't deny that you're better at Ninjutsu," Azami objected stubbornly inserting herself into the conversation.

Hisoka-sensei laughed outright at that, "Yes, Azami, yes I can! I told you, I specialise in Fuuinjutsu. Genjutsu as a second. Kakashi kicks my ass at Ninjutsu on a regular basis. We're about even on Taijutsu."

"But he just copies!" Azami protested.

"And?" Hisoka asked, laughing. "Azami-chan, I don't have the Chakra capacity to pull off some of the tricks that Kakashi does. That's why I spend so long dissecting and studying and mastering every Jutsu I come across. Just because I know it, doesn't mean I can perform it in a combat situation. Kakashi's Jutsu repertoire is _massive_, and if he didn't insist on relying on that Sharingan, the majority of it would be open to him." The Jounin shook his head in amusement, "He doesn't need that eye, but he refuses to listen to me."

Hotaru hummed, "Why doesn't he need it?" he asked curiously as with a distant yelp and splash, Naruto fell in the lake.

"Kakashi was in ANBU for so long, and from such a young age, that at this stage in his life his instincts are _better_ at gauging the pace of combat than that eye. He doesn't need the predictive ability and while he's not a Genjutsu specialist, that fact that he's got a light touch with them in regards to that, is almost legendary in the Jounin Lounge. The only reason he would have to use that eye right now, is simply to see Chakra and copy Hand-seals. And like I said, his Jutsu repertoire is huge. He doesn't _need_ to add to it," the half-Nara explained with a chuckle as he flopped back on the grass.

There was a pause and then Azami asked, "So, does he use the predictive ability in bed too?" she asked with all seriousness.

"Ye- AZAMI!" he roared, bolting upright in mortification as the Chuunin burst into raucous laughter. She Kawarimi-ed herself with a distant tree branch and raced off into the forest like the hounds of hell were after her, which wasn't too far from the truth as Hisoka-sensei was right behind her, promising her the spanking of a lifetime. While waving a Kunai.

Hotaru could only laugh quietly.

**XXXX.**

Dolores was quite at a loss of what to do.

Mister Potter was openly flouting several major Hogwarts Rules, even some of her own Ministry Decrees, without the slightest care in the world. He had changed quite drastically since the appearance of the strangers, becoming so much more open and animated. It was honestly stunning to see the formerly wilting, and dying youth who stalked around the library and the grounds, getting thinner and thinner and paler and paler, suddenly become this bright eyed creature that laughed, and smiled, green eyes sparking playfully. Formerly greasy and lank dark hair now silky and healthy looking, pulled back and no longer hiding his face, the black robes ditched in favour of foreign clothing that _clearly_ didn't belong to him.

It was like they were looking at completely different people. And Dolores didn't know what to do. Because they were quite clearly against Dumbledore if the gossip she had been hearing in the Teachers' lounge was any indication – really, threatening the headmaster with a knife? _Stealing his __Wand__ clean out from between his fingers!_

And anything against Dumbledore was a good sign in hers and Cornelius's books. And quite clearly, the Boy Who Lived held no love for the manipulative old goat. He could be seen even now, from her place at her office window, sat on the grass surrounded by two of the strangers, the third doing some form of meditation with a magically inclined toad over by the lake. Perfectly balanced upon slabs of concrete that teetered precariously on stone spikes. That Mister Potter was twirling a very familiar looking Wand through his fingers with startling dexterity.

But the fact of the matter was, he was not in any way in support of the Ministry.

He had been the one to quite clearly report the re-emergence of Voldemort, and yet he clearly refused to go along with any of Dumbledore's plots, his manner was completely clinical, flat, and detailed. He even went so far as to relay how ever many gravestones were in the yard and the metal used in the cauldron composition. He accurately described the physical characteristics of a Snake-Venom based Homunculus, before then going on to hypothesize under his breath that the serpent he saw present was a strange magical derivative as Boa Constrictors did not _have_ venom.

She would have to go and question him properly. But, looking out the window, she knew she would never get him in her office, or manage to get any Truth Serum into him. He never ate in the Great Hall. He never drank anything either. The School Nurse was in fits about Dumbledore spiking the boy's food with potions, hence why he never bothered eating them and instead ate whatever he could kill or dig up from the grounds themselves.

Yes, she would go and question his side of events, but do so where he felt most comfortable – thus more likely to answer honestly, and in her favour.

And if she got to talk to the blond young man again... all the better. Dolores blushed a little and double checked her make-up before daubing on a little more floral perfume.

**XXXXI.**

Flipsy could only twist his ears in distress as he crept through the bare little room in the Hufflepuff dormitories. They didn't like coming into this room, and with good reason. Mister Harry Potter Sir wasn't very nice when he was startled. Flipsy still remembered the last time he dared come in, he still shook from time to time. But he knew Mister Harry Potter Sir hadn't meant to hurt him, he even healed up the injuries he made, all the while scolding him about sneaking in.

Well, now Flipsy was doing it again, like Master Dumblydoorsy orders, and he was going to, gulp, _steal_ Mister Harry Potter Sir's research papers. All of them. Even his extras.

He would have to iron his hands and make himself very scarce over the next few days, because Mister Harry Potter Sir was going to be even more upset than ever before because they was gone. All the House-elves knew about his collar, it was scary to thinks that Wizards used to have them on each other too. House-elves is for cleaning and cooking, not humans. And they all knew how much Mister Harry Potter Sir _hated_ being here, hated being under someone's control. He wouldn't even eat their cooking.

**XXXXII.**

The next morning, the Great Hall was greeted with one of the more unusual sights.

Harry Potter stormed in, positively seething, grabbing everyone's attention as he stalked up to the head table.

"_Where are they, old man?_" the Hufflepuff growled, taking the staff members aback.

"_I am quite sure I am in the dark, my boy. What is it you're looking for?_" Dumbledore replied, eyes twinkling madly. They abruptly stopped when several glasses and plates shattered violently, almost exploding. There was a very real sense of restrained violence filling the room and the headmaster was distantly aware of the three strangers, plus an odd Toad with eyebrows and a cloak, appearing in the Great Hall's doors.

"_My research notes. They're gone. Gone from my __room__,_" the Hufflepuff continued with gritted teeth and narrowed green eyes. Oh those eyes were well aware. But Albus could not risk the child running off back to that barbaric society of murderers, he was the Chosen One, the only one who could stop Voldemort. He was needed, _desperately_ to bring the Light back to the Wizarding world. It didn't matter if the child hated him, or if what he was doing was immoral and cruel beyond recompense, he didn't matter. This was for the Greater Good. Harry would forgive him, in time, with time. When he was older, when he had reached the end of his anger, exhausted his rage, and opened his eyes.

Albus laced his fingers and prepared to lie his ass off, "_Well, things do tend to go missing. It is a dormitory._" He ignored the sharp angry hisses from the Hufflepuff table.

The air became thick, "_BULLSHIT!_" the young man roared, "_My rooms are __sealed__. Not even your staff members can get in, so what makes you think a student can? There are only five beings in this castle capable of entering them! Three of which I trust with my life! The other two happen to be your House-elves and your Phoenix! Neither of which would touch those notes because they don't know what the fuck they are! __You__ would have had to __order__ them __specifically__ to remove them!_"

Albus slowly got to his feet, "_Let's take this upstairs, shall we?_" he suggested. The boy's arguments were too well thought out to be delivered in front of the students. They needed to trust him in the upcoming war if Voldemort was to be felled. Hearing about their Leader stealing the research of a student in order to prevent him from leaving would sully that image, never mind then lying to his face. They would begin to think that he had lied about Voldemort.

"_Oh no. Last time we 'took it upstairs' you activated that lovely little slavery rune you carved on my back and tried to do the same to my sensei!_"

"_WHAT?_" the violet haired girl shrieked from the doorway even as every student sat up straight in horror and the Staff members reared back as if slapped.

"_Lying does not become you, Mister Potter,_" Albus reprimanded mildly.

The boy's expression turned ugly, "_Like you lied about Voldemort being back?_" he returned, making Albus jerk upright.

"_Voldemort is back, you saw him with your own eyes, Harry!_" he snapped, feeling discomfort crawling through his veins. He couldn't be doing this! He _knew_ how dangerous Voldemort was, how important it was for the world to know he was back, and yet... in front of the whole school... AND a Ministry official!

The youth laughed in his face, "_You're still touting that? Pull the other one! It's been six months and your precious Dark Lord hasn't been seen, hide nor hair of. Your little lie flopped. All your precious plans, pouf, gone with the wind!_" the young man continued, loudly, viciously. Lying through his teeth but only Albus knew it.

"_Are you trying to say that you never saw You Know Who at the end of the Third Task, Mister Potter?_" Dolores demanded eyes practically lighting up with glee.

Green eyes bored into Dumbledore's, silent and waiting. But the old man was unmoving, his eyes narrowing. The two of them were at an impasse and they both knew it, both had something they wanted from the other but... in the end... Dumbledore needed Harry a lot more than Harry needed him.

"_Yes. That is exactly what I am saying,_" Harry declared coldly.

The Great Hall erupted.

**XXXXII.**

Azami whistled lowly, "When you lose your temper, you really lose your temper," she teased, smiling a little stunned as the students practically rioted around them. The aged Headmaster was trying to wrest control back, but after that reveal, no one was bothering to listen to him – and Hotaru still had his Wand.

Hotaru was glowering from where he was leaning against the wall, arms folded, "If he wants to lie through his teeth to my face, I can return the favour. I'm just _better_ at it than he is," the Chuunin stated coldly.

Naruto grinned proudly, as he watched the chaos unfolding in the Great Hall.

"Bad news Fukasaku-sama!" a squeaky voice interrupted. The group of five looked down at a football sized toad, so young that he still had his tail. He was out of breath and scared from the Summoning, "Kosuke, the one who was sent to Konoha, has been killed!" the young Toad burbled in distress, "His name disappeared from the list!"

"Does this mean something happened in Konoha?" Fukasaku demanded while the rest of the Ninja suddenly stood straight in horror.

**XXXXIII.**

"Go, all of you! The old man won't release the Seals, there's no point in asking!" Hotaru exclaimed, giving them a solid push. "I'll still be here once everything is said and done, so don't you dare die on me!" he ordered harshly. He didn't think anything had ever been so painful as he watched his bestfriend, teacher, and the man he loved all went racing back to a war he couldn't take part in.

They could have threatened the students, but the Castle Defences would have been activated then, and they just didn't have the time to obliterate them _and_ follow through on their threat. Konoha was in danger and this was the fastest, and easiest, way of defending it. He was just one soul in the grand scheme of things.

"_Do you have any idea what you've done, you arrogant little brat?_" hissed an unwelcome voice.

Hotaru glanced over his shoulder at the Potions Master and smirked darkly, "_One good turn deserves another,_" he stated smoothly, "_You ruin my life, I ruin yours._"

**XXXXIV.**

Hotaru sighed in anger as he sat in the library, forced to begin anew on his research. Good mind he had, photographic memory he did not.

"_How could you do that to the headmaster!_" shrilled a female voice, making him glance over his shoulder with a sneer.

"_Granger-san, I am significantly in a less than pleasant mood. Please leave me alone,_" he requested, trying to keep as polite as possible, Azami would have his guts for garters if she caught him being anything less than a gentleman toward a woman, especially a civilian woman.

"_He's a great wizard! You __know__ You Know Who is back and yet you __still__ lied! Do you have any idea what you've done?_" the bushy haired Gryffindor continued to screech.

Hotaru, who's patience was at the absolute limit... snapped.

Hermione, who had been opening her mouth a third time to really let rip with her mind shrieked as she was roughly kicked in the gut – punted into the far table. She coughed, hitting the ground on her hands and knees, a sob tearing from her throat as she looked up through tear-filled eyes, the dark haired teenager crouching beside her.

"_I asked you nicely to leave me alone, Granger-san,_" he pointed out coldly his voice tight, and she shuddered fearfully. She hadn't even seen him move before he hit her. Her hands trembled as she reached for her wand, only to have it easily pulled from her fingers and tossed to the far side of the room. "_You do not know the full story so this will be the last time that I ask you __nicely__ to leave me be._" And with that, he got to his feet, and he walked away.

Hermione gasped, whimpering as she slowly forced herself back to her feet, trembling violently as her back screamed in agony.

It was as she limped over to collect her wand, that she spotted him between the book shelves, teeth gritted hard, blood dribbling down his chin from where he had bitten through his lip, fingernails digging into the skin at the back of his neck where his shirt collar was down just enough for her to...

Brown eyes widened in shock and confusion. That was...

**XXXXV.**

Dolores watched from her window.

Mister Potter was now completely boycotting lessons now, he seemed to have taken Dumbledore's attempts to exert his authority over him as an act of war and was refusing, point blank, to even sleep within the castle walls. The only time he was inside was when he was combing through the library for Ancient Runes books. He was beginning the long and arduous task of recreating his notes, from scratch.

But now, instead of spending his day reading under a tree, every other day he would spend jumping around doing punches and kicks in the air, or against a tree. He would run several times around the grounds, do push ups, sit ups, any manner of exercise and just generally work up a sweat. He even practised his spells, transfigured inanimate to animate – creating things like dragons and odd amalgamation animals, which he then fought against. He was definitely preparing for something, but she knew it wasn't to take over the Ministry.

Earlier in the day, Miss Granger, the frightfully intelligent Mudblood, had approached her, asking about the law and Ministry policy in regards to branding Runes. She had presented a sketch of a runic sequence with an odd look on her face, saying that she hadn't seen the whole thing, but this was apparently on one of the students, and causing them a great deal of pain. Dolores had been forced to send it off to the Aurors to see what they could make of it.

The response came back barely ten minutes ago. The sequence was little better than a Slavery brand. And it was a highly illegal one at that.

Oh how the mighty have fallen, Dumbledore. She thought, memories flying back to that explosive evening when the old man lost his power in the school, when those strangers vanished, leaving their friend behind. Mister Potter had referenced this runic sequence that day, and how Dumbledore had used it not only on him, but attempted to implant it upon the other man, the dark haired one who was as equally delicious as the blond – but Dolores had always had more of a taste for the younger man, it was more fun to teach them how to please her.

She had him.

Mister Potter had publicly declared he lied, and now Dumbledore was implicated with slavery branding.

She had him by the balls.

**XXXXVI.**

Naruto shivered, racing toward the Raikage.

'_Sorry, Taru. You're going to have to wait a little while longer before I can bring you home,_' he told his bestfriend. Hotaru would understand the delay, he always did. Hotaru was pretty much the safest out of all of them, being where he was surrounded by untrained civilians – he could kick their asses with ease. But right now, with Tsunade-baachan in a coma, Akatsuki knocking on the door, the Five Kages coming together, Sasuke joining Akatsuki, and now Kumogakure looking to deliver their revenge... The Hidden Nations were in turmoil and they looked to be teetering on the edge of a World War.

Naruto gritted his teeth, willing away his guilt as he thought of his bestfriend, stuck in that castle, too afraid to eat, too afraid to sleep, unable to leave, unable to fight... Hotaru would understand. He could deal with that discomfort, they'd done it before. But... if Naruto didn't do this...

Sasuke would die.

**XXXXVII.**

Those runes... they wouldn't stop burning.

Hotaru's teeth ground until his gums started to bleed as he continued to make his notes and flip through one of the Ancient Runes texts he had picked up from the Restricted Section. It wasn't too difficult to by-pass the alarm wards, a simple Genjutsu to kill the sound was easy enough even at his diminished level of skill, the problem was keeping the Genjutsu up at the same time as making notes _and_ dealing with the pain that throbbed up and down his body.

He cursed as his hand spasmed, causing a jagged splash of ink to tear through his careful notes. It was getting harder and harder to control himself.

He was reaching the end of the tether.

Hotaru gritted his teeth, turning the quill to himself.

Quick, certain, smooth movements, he scrawled a Chakra release Storage Seal on the inside of his wrist. The use of Chakra had the pain reaching a new spike of pressure right behind his eyes. He was going to pass out at this rate. And he couldn't take the chance that his new notes would be taken. Gathering them up blindly, locking his fingers to stop himself from crushing them as the pain shuddered through him, he laid them down on the seal and exerted enough Chakra.

They vanished in a puff of smoke that was drowned out by the chair clattering to the floor –

Black.

_**000**_

**And end.**

**Yeah, I know I said this would be only a twoshot, but this is hitting 26 pages long, and that's too long for a single chapter easy reading. So I figured I'd turn it into a threeshot. Especially since I have this **_**lovely**_** cliffhanger to leave you with. hehehehe**


	3. Horizon to Horizon

**I.**

They were supposed to be better than this.

The room was stale, the hangings ripped and mouldering, a dank reek of dust and decay hung like an unwelcome perfume in the dark bedroom with its heavy teak-furnishings, thick forest green hangings, velvet wall-paper and drawn curtains. Candles provided dim, soft lighting that only made the scene seem all the more medieval as, with the sound of tearing paper, Molly Weasley's attempts to feed their _captive_ were thwarted.

Two weeks ago, Albus had Portkey'ed into Headquarters with the unconscious form of James's son levitating beside him. Remus had, of course, seen the child before. Back when he first arrived, thirteen, angry, frightened, and unable to understand a single word they said to him.

To everyone else, they had seen their beloved Boy Who Lived. A child lost, raised by savages in a far off land. To Remus... more attuned to the peculiarities of the world. That had not been what he had seen, he had seen something _very_ different, but no less concerning.

He did not see a boy, or a child.

While people were busy exclaiming over his scars, Remus had paid more attention to where they came from, how they came to be. Knives, claws, burns. Those were scars made during battle, not accidentally cutting oneself while cooking. Someone had made concentrated efforts to murder him, on more than one occasion.

While they commented on his strange dress, Remus had seen the easy access ties that opened and closed it, the smell that lingered on the threads, the neutral colours and how it didn't _quite_ fit. How it belonged to a hospital, and not to Harry himself.

While Molly fussed over how thin he was, Remus had found his eyes lingering on the hard-packed, lean muscle that stretched across Harry's young form. One did not form that kind of muscle mass, or toning, without good meals, and a lot of exercise. If he had to wager a guess, Remus would say that Harry ate better, and more often, in larger amounts, than even he did most days of a week.

And then came the comments on his behaviour. How he refused to eat Molly's cooking, how he refused to look anyone in the eye, how he kept his back to the walls and didn't let anyone walk behind him, how he refused to sleep in the same room as other people, how he violently lashed out. Remus saw him sniff his food, saw him test a strip of paper in it before pushing the dish away. Remus noticed how it wasn't just eyes he didn't look at, but didn't allow anyone to touch him either, and always avoided conversation. How he would always enter a room silently and position himself in the most defensible position, checking every door, window, exit, person, and even every wand and knife in the room. The Werewolf didn't doubt that several of the other objects those green eyes flickered over could be used as weapons. He could hear the stifled gasps as the boy awoke from violent nightmares. And how he never raised a hand unless boxed in, unless someone had a wand drawn. Unless he felt threatened.

But when did this become alright?

Laid out on the bed was the young form of his bestfriend's son, face pale and sweaty with pain. He had been like this for three days now, Albus having unceremoniously deposited him in Molly's care. And nothing, no matter what they tried, nothing worked to awaken him. Molly was positively beside herself because she couldn't even feed him – every time she tried, paper scripts would snap out and cover Harry's mouth, nose, and eyes. And no spell they attempted could stop it. Bill couldn't make heads or tails of the papers, they weren't any language he was familiar with.

If this carried on, Harry would starve to death before the following morning.

Remus turned away and stalked to the living room. When did this become okay?

When did abducting a child, confining him, and forcing him to fight in a battle he wanted nothing to do with become okay? They were supposed to be better than this. The fact that they had yet to descend to the same levels as the Death Eaters was the only reason Remus bothered to return to the Order of the Phoenix after last time! But this... times had clearly changed. Now, it apparently didn't matter if they destroyed their Chosen One as long as Dumbledore won his pissing contest with the Dark Lord.

And as Remus passed by the kitchen, the sight of Sirius, surrounded by empty Fire Whiskey bottles snapping and snarling and drunkenly slurring as he argued with Severus caught his eye. He watched as wands were drawn and the curses started to fly. Some of them... were nasty. Malicious. Dangerous.

And he turned away. Because they should have been better than this.

They were supposed to be the Light.

**II.**

Severus glared down at the papers wound around Potter's head.

And as much as they utterly infuriated him... he couldn't help but approve of them too. And that just pissed him off all the more! Potter's son was not supposed to be intelligent, he was not supposed to be ruthless, he was not supposed to be so viciously antisocial, he was not supposed to have self-preservation instincts, or such a cruel streak. He wasn't supposed to have Lily's eyes that _glared_ at him with such stark, naked, hate and disgust. He wasn't supposed to be lying there on the bed, his face wrapped up with foreign magic to prevent someone from force-feeding him potions while he was unconscious. He wasn't supposed to _need_ to resort to this kind of safety measure! He shouldn't have even had to _think_ about such things!

He was Potter's vile spawn! He was supposed to have nothing more on his mind than Quidditch, Pranks, harassing his Slytherins and how he could get a girlfriend, or pass his exams, or even what kind of Chocolate he was running out of so he could buy more on the next Hogsmeade trip!

Severus was not supposed to approve of his counter-measures against Albus's meddling. He was not supposed to think that he would have done better Sorted into Slytherin than Hufflepuff, where that ruthlessness and self-preservation would have been celebrated, respected, instead of scorned and made wary of. He was not supposed to feel guilty about brewing minor compulsion potions to make the brat more open to the idea of helping them! He wasn't supposed to be trying to use Legilimency to figure out what they could _bribe_ the child with!

He wasn't supposed to try and erase his memory entirely if all else failed.

**III.**

Albus had been forced to awaken Harry when all attempts to remove the seal-scripts failed.

He watched as the strained lines on the young man's face faded away, and green eyes opened, they were hazy, bloodshot. Chapped lips opened and hastily Molly poured some water for him and held the glass up. The child was severely dehydrated, he needed to drink but -

The glass shattered against the far wall as the boy flung it away from him as she tried to press it to his mouth.

Green eyes blade sharp on Albus's face with such _hate_ that he felt sick just looking into them.

Only one man had ever looked at him with those eyes...

He turned and left the room as Molly fussed over the child, completely ignored as those eyes drilled holes into his back until the door closed behind him. Albus swallowed, feeling queasy and old as he slowly made his way down the stairs. His heart was heavy with what he now had to do.

They couldn't afford a second Dark Lord.

Once Harry had done his duty... there was no other choice than to deal with him as well.

The Dementor's Kiss. Painless. Quick. He would live out the remainder of his life in comfort with around the clock care. His wife would handle the Potter estate. There would be children. He would have a family. They would grow up at his bedside knowing that he was a great man who fought for the Greater Good. They would never know his ugly side. The Dark side. The killer. The sinner. The liar who tried to doom them. He would be a good man in all the ways that counted in their eyes.

Albus shuddered and wiped his wet cheeks dry as he fumbled with the Floo pot.

Harry just wouldn't be around to appreciate it.

**IV.**

Sirius sighed heavily, "_Albus, the boy refuses to eat anything we give him. I caught him roasting a __Doxy__ over a candle in his room!_" the former convict exclaimed hysterically. They were in their usual Order meeting when the question of Harry Potter was brought up, more specifically on how he was doing. Sirius had immediately jumped in with his concerns because – damnit, the boy was _eating_ Doxies!

Albus pinched the bridge of his nose, "_Sirius, you will simply have to force him. He cannot survive long without food!_"

He scoffed, "_You know as well as I do that the only food getting into his mouth is the stuff he willingly puts there! That paper thing he's got activates even when he's awake!_" he practically roared, slamming a fist on the table. "_I'm not asking you to move heaven and earth! I'm just asking for you to arrange an escort so he can go and __buy__ his own food! If he isn't going to trust us to cook food, then at least let him make his own so then he'll damn well eat!_"

There was a moment of silence as all eyes turned to Albus.

It... wasn't a bad idea. He had, by now, come to the realisation that drugging Harry's food just wasn't going to work because he refused to even _touch_ it. And that paper-ward would prevent them from slipping him anything while he was sleeping, or from using Legilimency when he wasn't in any state to repel them.

But... if they got the Suggestion Potions _into_ the ingredients when Harry wasn't paying attention... it would make things _much_ easier. He wasn't likely to think they would touch the ingredients themselves, just the final product.

He nodded, slowly, "_Very well, Sirius, if you feel so strongly on the matter,_" he conceded, making it seem as if he still disapproved and was granting him a favour. Who to send with him though... Someone able to control him, definitely, someone who wouldn't rub him up the wrong way either – the last thing they needed was to alienate him further. They needed someone to draw him in. A girl would be preferable. Perhaps he could arrange for some Love Potion... No. No he wouldn't stoop that low. There was no need to dose him with Love Potions. Once the Dementors had neutralised him, a wife would be selected, the marriage would be quiet, and done via muggle-law, still legal, but any children or money would belong to the wife, she would be the sole carer of the estate and the name. There was no need to violate him while he was awake and aware, even the Greater Good had limits – and rape was so far over the line it wasn't even visible on the horizon. For now...

"_Charlie, would you be so kind as to accompany Mister Potter tomorrow? I understand you are familiar with London and a significant portion of the muggle-world?_" he asked, turning to the second eldest Weasley. He was near enough ideal. His experiences with Dragons would render him quite capable against the volatile teenager, he was definitely loyal to the Greater Good, and he was familiar enough with Muggle culture thanks to his father so as not to draw attention to their outing amidst the London crowds.

The tanned red head blinked a moment in bewilderment, "_Uhh, sure headmaster. I'm free. But I'm not too familiar with London's streets, I'm not sure how much help I'd be,_" he admitted, sounding a little bewildered.

Albus waved a hand, "_I'm sure we have a map somewhere,_" he dismissed.

**V.**

Charlie didn't quite know how to treat the young man trailing along beside him. Harry Potter was nothing like the stories his mum used to tell them at bedtime, and in all honesty, he had been expecting that. But the real Harry Potter was entirely unlike anything he had ever encountered. The closest he could think was a combination of Snape and Moody on the rag.

Potter was not happy to be here. Even less so to be in Headquarters.

"_So, uhh, I hear you caused a bit of a raucous in Hufflepuff._" he said, trying to start conversation. It kind of fell flat when all he received was stony silence. "_Something about a boyfriend popping in unexpectedly._" Ah, that got a reaction. Potter's cheeks turned pink and he hunched down a little deeper into his jacket. "_Sooo... What's he like? I believe my younger sister had things to say along the lines of an 'Adonis with hair like spun gold'?_" he continued, setting his voice into a high falsetto to mimic Ginny as she gushed rapturously about the strange blond boy she had seen shirtless on the school grounds once or twice while he trained.

Potter muttered something, and Charlie had to bend a little closer to hear, "_He's not my boyfriend,_" was the quiet refusal.

Charlie raised an eyebrow at the tone, "_Sounds like you wish he was,_" he observed, watching as Pott- Harry, turned and looked away, the pink on his cheeks fading away and his expression turning sad.

"_He loves someone else,_" he stated quietly, sounding resigned.

Charlie fell quiet as they continued walking, bundled up against the approaching November chill. There was something heartbreaking and painful about that sentence, or rather, the way it was said. The second oldest Weasley was getting the impression that Harry's feelings were not a new development, and neither was the other boy's love for someone else. What a mess. In love with a guy for ages who loved someone else entirely, dragged across worlds and forced to fight in a battle away from everyone you've known and loved. It was that pity that had him allowing Harry to explore a local book-shop, the look on the boy's face when he saw it had him chuckling. Even more amusing was the two large _stacks_ of non-fiction books the boy insisted on buying.

Eventually they found a little China Market hidden away on a back-street. Harry immediately moved in, apparently recognising a few of the words and was immediately talking to the shop-keeper in a different language, the two of them moving through the isles picking things up here and there. By the end of it, Harry's basket was full of all things weird and wonderful, the only things Charlie recognised was a large sack of rice, and pot ramen. A lot of pot ramen.

As they made their way back, Harry suddenly spoke up. "_It doesn't matter if he loves someone else though. I'm happy just being at his side. As long as he is my friend, and I am his, I'm content to let him go. As long as it makes him happy,_" the dark haired teenager explained gently, sounding older than his years. Charlie stared as the last Potter smiled up at him, and he felt all the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight as green eyes glowed in the afternoon sunlight.

"_Any who try to ruin that... I will not forgive._"

**VI.**

Hotaru mechanically inked Fuuinjutsu onto the storage scroll he had put his food into, just to make sure it couldn't be taken. All the while, his brain ran at full-tilt. Had Azami been there she would have giggled about smoke streaming from his ears as he overworked his poor brain.

That pocket watch.

He flared his Chakra, drying the ink, and snapped the scroll shut.

That pocket watch was his key out of here.

Without realising it, without even knowing, there had been two parts to the rune sequence on the back of his neck. Parent and Child, so to speak. Hotaru had the Child sequence. That pocket watch... had the Parent sequence carved into it. The Parent sequence was the _control_ sequence. That was the runic anchor. That was what determined the pain threshold, the distance, and the rules for his runes. Hence why Dumbledore had given it to Charlie when they left to fetch his food. He hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but when they got back and it was returned, Dumbledore opened it up – clearly to check it was the same watch_and_ to change the Parent Runes.

Hotaru had caught a glimpse. Enough to confirm what he was looking at.

And then he'd been forced to blank himself pretty sharpish because if Dumbledore realised he had seen, had understood, had realised, then he would change the Control object that the Parent Runes were inscribed within. The question now remained... How did he get close enough to steal it?

It was time to further his psychological warfare campaign.

**VII.**

The next time Dumbledore came into the house, Hotaru made a show of wincing and gritting his teeth. He spoke with strained tones and observed Dumbledore carefully, whenever he moved his left hand, he made certain to flinch, when the old man smiled he would inhale shakily through gritted teeth.

He excused himself early, knowing that only three people had paid any kind of attention to his behaviour. He maintained it until he left the room, but continued to play his part – hand snapping up to dig his fingernails into his shoulders, because he knew one of the Order members had an eye akin to the Byakugan, able to see through things. He maintained his performance up into the bathroom where he ran some cold water and dunked his face into it and then a cloth which he laid upon the Runes – as if they were burning him.

He then went to bed and tossed and turned until he felt Dumbledore's Chakra leave before seemingly relaxing into proper sleep.

The next time, he was in the kitchen making food when he felt Dumbledore's Chakra appear in the other room – thankfully, the kitchen had a lot of people, so he made a show of dropping the pot of boiling water and rice with a hiss of pain, a hand jumping to his shoulder. Molly was immediately rushing over and fussing while the rest of the Order members looked confused as he visibly gritted his teeth and straightened up, arranging his facial features into a strained smile for the woman's benefit.

"_I'm okay, just a muscle cramp_," he told her pleasantly. Again, he kept himself strained, looking as though he were in severe discomfort but trying to hide it as Dumbledore came in, jovial as always. He quickly excused himself, vanishing the mess he made on the floor and taking only the grilled chicken pieces he had managed to make with him. When he was upstairs, he felt Dumbledore's Chakra flare and purposefully upset his food onto the carpet with a choked cry of pain as he dropped to his knees, hand on his shoulder.

The next morning, Remus asked if his shoulder was alright. And judging by the look in those amber eyes, he damn well knew there was nothing wrong with his shoulder and was getting suspicious. Hotaru nodded, "_I haven't exercised in a while. Muscle cramping is to be expected,_" he assured the older man before unsealing his ingredients and getting to work on his breakfast.

**VIII.**

Three weeks of doing this every time the old man came in for meetings, Hotaru had managed to get almost everyone glaring at him as it had taken that long for them to notice, and for those more observant to gossip about the problem. By the time Dumbledore had become aware of a change in his Order members, it was Christmas, and the Weasley brood, plus Hermione Granger, were back in the house – and all very shocked to see him.

"_So this is what Dumbledore meant when he said Protective Custody!_" Ron Weasley, the youngest of the boys and current Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team exclaimed. Hotaru glowered at him, while Hermione looked between the two of them anxiously before turning away and disappearing, likely as not into the library – not that she would find much with the way the Order were burning the Dark Magic books that Kretcher hadn't been able to give him. Hotaru had made a point of befriending Kretcher during his long stint of isolation. The crotchety old elf hated the fact that Molly and the Order were messing up the Ancestral Home of the Blacks. Hotaru had merely raised a disdainful eyebrow when he heard the foul mutterings and coldly asked if he was really that senile or just a shit house-elf.

The little bugger nearly had an apoplexy then and there, and Hotaru had ended up grabbing him by those over long ears and pointing at every health hazard and foul thing he could see within sight and then scolded him for his inattention. Firmly stating that if he loved his home that much, then he should have taken better fucking care of it. He had no room to complain about befouling or besmirching anything when his lack of attentiveness to his own duties put the house into such a state that those so called Mudbloods and Blood Traitors were appalled to live in such squalor.

It really put his dander up, and the Elf joined the cleaning efforts with such furore that it made the Order suspicious at first until Sirius ordered the little bastard to tell him just what had changed. Hearing about how Young Master Green Eyes had given him a stern talking to about his duties and how his mistress would be ashamed of Mudbloods and Blood Traitors looking down on the House of Black had been the last thing any of them had been expecting and the look of stunned shock on the assembled faces made Hotaru sneer from where he was making his Miso Soup. Snape, however, looked grudgingly amused commenting on how he should have been a Slytherin.

Kretcher still hated him at that point in time, but Hotaru _had_ gotten his attention, and grudging respect because even he realised what the Hufflepuff had done by that point in time. And the more that Kretcher watched... the more he liked. Hotaru was annoyingly self-sufficient for him, but the elf also _liked_ that he was too 'dignified' to allow others to take care of himself, stating that it was very regal and impressive.

It got to the point where Kretcher asked if Sirius would transfer ownership of him to Hotaru, to the shock of everyone present. The fact that Hotaru then turned around and snapped that he had no need, nor any want for a slave – then giving all present a very dark look, added 'unlike some'.

It hadn't crushed Kretcher like many had expected to be rejected in such a brusque and firm manner. It just made him all the more determined. It got to the point where Hotaru had even managed to talk him into accepting _pay_ by merely pointing out and explaining the way Konoha worked on a Mercenary level. They do jobs, they get paid, half the money stays with them, the other half goes to the Village. Most of what Ninja buy is weapons and food that they eat, so in actuality, all of the money goes back into the village because without weapons, the Ninja cannot complete their jobs, and without food, there are no Ninja, so no jobs can be done at all.

All the while, the Order members were utterly agog at the fact _someone_ had managed to talk sense into the demented little House-elf. Using _logic_ of all things!

In the mean time, while they were shocked and stunned, Hotaru had Kretcher running small errands for him, fetching materials, books, ingredients. Hotaru had every intention of returning to Konoha and he wanted to make sure the village was one of the best equipped in the world. Research papers, texts, materials, potions, anything and everything. Hotaru even made a point of getting Kretcher to track down muggle things, medicinal drugs and text-books. Tsunade would definitely be interested in the majority of the books he would bring back about the human body. Couple that with the magical books and potions, etc, and she was going to let him back into the village even if she believed he left of his own volition. Everything was packed away in multiple storage scrolls, which were then sealed into a much larger storage scroll.

He even decided to be a bigger bastard than even Dumbledore would have considered.

Using blood, Chakra, and a note, he had Kretcher _empty_ the Potter and Peverell vaults. Completely. Well... not completely.

He left a single knut and a note of contempt behind.

**IX.**

Christmas was not celebrated in the Hidden Countries. At most, they would share cake with family, or someone special to them. Since he had no family, and his special someone was not there, Hotaru opted to stay out of the way the whole day. He used his Potions' cauldron to make his rice and his soup, he ate in his room, he read his books, he made notes. He turned his attentions to other branches of magical study, pondering on how to use them to better Konoha for when Naruto became Hokage. There were a lot of things that could improve their village tremendously. Just the potions alone were incredible. The ability to regrow bones? The number of Ninja who were forced to retire due to shattered bone joints that just _could not_ be repaired was ridiculous.

He hadn't expected for the Weasley family to come bursting in, loudly jabbering about why he hadn't come downstairs for food and such and – Hotaru launched himself up and clung to the ceiling with Chakra out of their reach.

"_I do not celebrate Christmas. Please go away,_" he told them sharply, beginning to feel claustrophobic.

He would have made certain to lock them out, but there was something strange about the doors here because he couldn't carve his usual Fuuinjutsu onto them, any tools he put to the wood were repelled. He later learned that Kretcher had been ordered to do so by Dumbledore, through Sirius. Impervious Wards specifically so he could not do the same thing he had done in the Hufflepuff dormitories and seal himself away from the rest of the world.

**X.**

New Years came and went, and with it... Hotaru's opportunity announced itself.

He and the other Weasley children had been drafted into cleaning up the house after the twins got too insistent with him and he had, of course, lashed out. It resulted in a fair bit of property damage and the Weasley children now avoiding him for the most part, thank the Kami.

The strange thing was that Granger was now hanging around much more closely than before. And when he confronted her about it, she admitted to seeing the Runes, and being told by the Under Secretary that if she could get Harry away from Dumbledore, they would hide him away somewhere safe from the Order of the Phoenix and do everything they could to remove the Runes. Hotaru snorted and released her. Too naïve. Too innocent. The trust she held in the establishment shone so clearly in her hazel brown eyes that it was almost painful to look at because she believed, whole heartedly, that they would try to help him if she brought him to them. They wouldn't. Just like with Dumbledore, they would only break the Runes so they could apply their own, enforce some kind of Debt repayment spell onto him or whatever.

No. Hotaru had a plan for how to do this. He just had to wait.

Wait until Dumbledore was there, and put on the best performance of his life.

**XI.**

His moment came sooner than expected.

Not even a week into January, while cleaning, Hotaru felt Dumbledore's Chakra in the house – and then pain, actual _real_ pain, hit him like a freight train.

But it wasn't in the Runes. No. This was in his head. Centred on his scar.

Hotaru's body locked up and he _screamed_, falling to the ground and curling into a ball, screeching into the carpeting.

Never let it be said that a Konoha nin let something as trivial as pain prevent them from completing the mission. Even with his forehead splitting open, Hotaru's hands gripped the runes on his back, nails digging long bloody furrows into his flesh as he purposefully smashed his forehead into the ground. He felt a nail catch on his hairline and tear a deep gash in his flesh as he shuddered.

There was panic every where around him.

Hermione was screaming at someone to get a Healer while Remus and other Order members were bellowing furiously at Dumbledore.

The old man rushed over, rummaging in his robes for the pocket watch, no doubt he thought something had gone wrong with the runes if he was having such a bad reaction to them – more the fool he, the stupid man just showed Hotaru where it had been hidden. And then he actually brought it out into the open air.

Hotaru uncurled, violently and with force.

He snatched the pocket watch, ignoring the pain that exploded in his hand before he was gone.

He had been training his speed specifically for a situation like this.

Pocket watch in hand, Hotaru shouldered open his bedroom door just as everyone downstairs exploded in chaos wondering where he'd gone, accompanied by Dumbledore's roar of fury.

Served the bastard right.

Ignoring the pain in his head and hand, Hotaru flicked his stolen wand and everything packed immediately.

"_Kretcher!_" A crack filled the room and Hotaru immediately gathered the house-elf up into his arms, "_Privet Drive, Surrey, Kretcher – quickly!_" he ordered, feeling the Elf's Chakra wrap around him and -

CRACK

**XII.**

There was only way back to the Hidden Countries that Hotaru knew of.

The same way he went in.

The Fae Paths.

After having Kretcher fetch Yuki, the owl had promptly stripped out of her false-skin, revealing herself to be eight feet tall with a wing-span equalling that of most small planes. If not bigger. She was still beautiful and Hotaru very swiftly went about transfiguring a riding saddle and some bags to attach to it, storing his scrolls and such within, so they could make their way through the paths swifter. Yuki's sense of direction was phenomenal, she promised she would be able to find their way through the paths no problem.

The question now remained...

"_Do you want to come with us, Kretcher?_" Hotaru asked, looking at the elderly house-elf. "_You will likely get into a lot of trouble if you remain, but I'm going into a war zone, so you may get hurt with us too. I'll try to protect you, but compared to these people, I am small fry. However, you will be valued and treated with respect. If you want to maintain your terms of service, I know some Noble clans who would be thrilled to have a dedicated staff member with your skills to bond with._" Even if the Hyuuga Clan were against it, Hotaru knew that the Nara Clan would love Kretcher, and with the deer grounds to take care of, on top of a perpetually lazy clan of geniuses, there would be plenty of mess for the elderly elf to fill his days with. He would love it. And if not, the Aburame Clan, while fastidious, always needed extra hands. The Akimichi Clan would love to have some of Kretcher's recipes. The Utatane Clan members were some of the oldest citizens, having become sterile during the Second Shinobi war due to concentrated efforts of poison specialist Ninjas, they needed taking care of as some of them had taken the toxin worse than others. And even if Kretcher didn't want to go for any of the clans, the Hospital, the Interrogation rooms, the morgue, there were a thousand and one places that would welcome a being like Kretcher in with open arms once they learned not only what he was capable of but also the laws that governed his species that were magically _impossible_ to betray.

The elf's face was full of such longing, but he shook his head.

"_Kretcher wants to. But Kretcher must fulfil Master Regulus's last request and destroy the Dark Lord's nasty locket. Kretcher's duties to House Black have not ended,_" the elf declared, drawing himself up proudly. "_Kretcher wishes Young Master Green Eyes luck for the future,_" he stated solemnly.

Hotaru nodded, and, in a gesture the house elf wouldn't recognise but understand regardless. Hotaru used an old ANBU sign he remembered seeing at a funeral once.

He concentrated his Chakra in his hand so that it looked like a flame, and kissed his finger tips, he then outstretched the same hand and flared his chakra all the higher. A gesture of respect, good luck, good will... and goodbye.

Large tennis ball shaped eyes watered and the elf bowed, his nose scraping the dirt as he snivelled wetly.

When he straightened up...

Hotaru and Yuki were gone.

And the summons of his foul kinslayer Master pulled him back to the House of Black where he smiled as widely and viciously as he could, feeling that bubble of glee simmering ferociously in his stomach when he saw the angry faces looking down at him. Young Master Green Eyes had outwitted them all. Escaped them. And he wasn't coming back.

So when foul Master ordered him to tell, Kretcher did so gladly. And laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

And stopped.

**XIII.**

Hermione would scream the next morning when she saw a new head mounted next to the other house elves. But unlike the rest of them, Kretcher's withered face was stretched wide in a broad jovial smile. His milky white eyes sightless but somehow... still happy.

Horrified, she would lock herself in one of the studies, questioning everything she thought she knew about Albus Dumbledore and his so called Light. Everything about the Order of the Phoenix. And she would decide she didn't like what she found.

**XIV.**

The Fae Paths were beyond description. Hotaru couldn't remember the first time he'd set foot in there. He didn't want to. And he was eternally glad that he couldn't.

That was their nature. You went in, and then you left. And you know time had passed, that things had happened... but because it happened _somewhere_ else... you didn't remember. Couldn't remember. Because those memories had stayed _somewhere else__**.**_

Time flowed differently, or at least, that was what all the books he found in the Restricted Section said. Privately, Hotaru was hoping that it hadn't. Naruto left three months ago because the village was under attack! But if there was time issues, he would really rather go back to before the battle, not too long though.

**XV.**

Yuki burst out into brilliant sunshine off the coast of Fire Country.

Hotaru breathed deep the familiar aroma and flavour of the trees, felt the sun soak into his body, felt the familiar Chakras of the world around him. And he _laughed_.

For what felt like the first time in three years, he threw his arms up and he laughed until his stomach hurt.

He'd done it.

Yuki chuckled, angling herself towards the Hidden Leaf village. It looked like she wouldn't have to worry about that favour she owed Uzumaki Naruto as her human, her clever human, had saved himself without help! She had chosen well. She'd learned so much from him and in turn, she would stay by his side. She would bring her case to the Elders when all was said and done. Konoha deserved the Owl contract more than Kumo in her eyes. But then again...

She was terribly biased toward her human.

**XVI.**

"OOOOOOOOOOOOI!" Hotaru called, waving an arm as Yuki swooped down on Konoha.

He spotted Naruto immediately at Ichiraku ramen, Sakura was in the doorway, her mouth hanging open in shock as Yuki descended rapidly into the street. He laughed when he saw her, unable to find even a single grain of the jealousy and resentment he used to feel toward her as he swung off the giant Owl.

"No way!" she exclaimed, a split second before an orange blur shot past her and engulfed the smaller male.

Hotaru laughed, hugging his bestfriend equally tightly as the Jinchuuriki nearly crushed him.

Sakura felt something in her chest twist when she saw the way Hotaru looked at Naruto. She knew that look.

"When, how? I thought – Did you break the Seals?" Naruto spluttered in amazement.

Hotaru shook his head, still grinning, his cheeks were hurting but he couldn't stop. "No, no I stole it! He had a pocket watch with the second sequence of Runes inside! That's why I couldn't break it with my notes, it just wouldn't work because I only had half the story! So I stole it clean out of his hands and ran for it." He laughed, breathless and giddy. It may not have been very dignified for a Shinobi to do so but Hotaru knew that without being able to change the parameters on the pocket watch, he couldn't actually fight, he _had_ to run. "I'll figure out how to disarm it later," he explained as he wrapped his hand in a strip of cloth and pulled the pocket watch out from one of the bags. "I can't touch it with my bare hands, the Runes'll burn me. But you should be okay."

Sakura came closer and was surprised when Hotaru gave her a broad, _happy_ smile. How could he smile at her like that when he... when he loved Naruto that much... and he loved her instead? She wondered, but the hug the other boy gave her banished the idea that he may still harbour ill-will toward her. No. He was happy to be home. He was happy to see her. Right now... there wasn't a cruel thought in that boy's head.

She couldn't stop herself from hugging him back, just as tightly.

**XVII.**

Hotaru smiled warmly at Teuchi as he set a bowl out in front of him, "You have no idea how much I've missed your ramen, Teuchi-jichan," he stated honestly as he reached for a set of chopsticks, two Chuunin taking a seat on either side of him.

"I can imagine it. Look at how thin you've gotten!" the chef exclaimed, "It's a good thing Ayame-chan isn't here, or she'd insist on feeding half our stock to you! Not to mention the half that already went on feeding your lady-friend outside!" he stated mirthfully remembering the large owl outside who was quite contentedly digging into her own bowl of pork ramen, watching as with a snap of his chopsticks one of his favourite customers dug into his food. The moan of appreciation was music to his ears and he couldn't help the glow of pride that came with satisfying a hungry belly with good tasting food from filling him up.

"Hey, oyaji! I'll have a bowl of the same, it sounds good!" one of the Chuunin exclaimed with a teasing wink at the smaller male who was much too interested in eating his ramen to pay attention.

"Coming right up. One miso ramen with crispy-roast pork cutlets, extra broth!" he declared, getting back to work.

"I'll have the same!" said the second with an appreciative sound.

"Ossu!" the ramen chef agreed, listening with half an ear as the two turned to Hotaru.

"So, I haven't seen your face around here. And I'd have definitely remembered," the dark haired man added with a smirk and a once over that, despite the boy not being related, Teuchi bristled a tad over with parental indignation. It may have been a little silly, but he refused to stand by and let people take advantage of Hotaru and Naruto, they were good boys who'd been forced into bad places entirely too often. Hotaru had come by offering to do the dishes more than once so he and Naruto could get some free ramen for dinner – the concept of work for food had completely slipped Naruto by, somehow, Teuchi was pegging that one on the merchants who browbeat him into believing that only money could get him food, meaning he _had_ to pay their bloated bills to eat.

Hotaru slowed down in his concentrated scarfing of food and sucked on the tip of his chopsticks thoughtfully, "You wouldn't have. I just got back from a two year absence," he stated delicately. A very diplomatic way of saying that he was abducted and considered a missing nin until the truth came out. Likely as not the only reason ANBU weren't swooping down on him was because Sakura-chan had gone and spread the word not only of his return but also of Tsunade-sama's awakening. Thank Kami Naruto had returned the pocket watch before he had vanished – a reverse summon if Hotaru was correct.

Blond whistled appreciatively, "Must have been some mission for a two year assignment!" he exclaimed.

Hotaru shook his head, "There was no mission," he explained honestly, "My clan collected me and weren't keen on letting me come back. It took a while to convince them otherwise." Teuchi nodded in approval of the teenager's dark tone of voice. It left very little to the imagination as to what that convincing may have entailed. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to get back for the attack," he murmured, hunching a little over his bowl miserably.

Teuchi set his ladle down loudly, and pointedly, "Naruto told me the whole thing," he declared strongly, "You have got absolutely _nothing_ to be ashamed of, Hotaru! You worked yourself to death over those two years trying to find your way back! When you heard about the attack, instead of wasting time trying to force your release, you sent your retrieval team back to Konoha and continued your work alone. You lasted two years in enemy territory against starvation, interrogation, and indoctrination tactics," the Ramen chef impressed, leaning over the counter to place his hands on his little kitchen helper's shoulders. "Do not be sorry that you could not make it back. No one here would ever hold it against you. Only be glad you finally came home."

Whatever else was about to be said cut off as with an explosion of smoke, Hotaru yelped as he very nearly up-ended his ramen as someone appeared _beneath_ him.

"Hey, I'm back! Taru?"

"Naruto, what the hell?" the dark haired male exclaimed, eyes wide from where he was, quite literally, in the blond's lap.

**XVIII.**

Getting a complete, thorough, debrief by not only Inoichi, Ibiki, Shikaku _and_ Tsunade-sama, was certainly an experience and a half. But Hotaru held absolutely nothing back, he brought out all the storage scrolls of information, items, objects, ingredients, that he had collected over the last two years – the bulk of which happening once he'd gained Kretcher's favour. Yuki was there to explain the bits and pieces Hotaru wasn't too certain on.

They had him strip and examine the Runes on him, and check every other inch of his body for tampering. Thankfully there was none. Inoichi checked his mind when Hotaru explained how they had not only drugs that issued minor, and major compulsions, but also mind walkers as well. He too found no tweaking aside from a rip in his mental defences that originated from his scar – he reported that the presence within it had recently become active. There was no danger of Hotaru being possessed as his Chakra seemed to _burn_ it, but there was no way of removing it without causing death. Something that everyone agreed was a bad idea, thankfully.

Tsunade created five Kage Bunshin to comb through all the medical texts Hotaru brought with him, it was only five because that was the total amount that Hotaru could create with his current level of health. Had he been at optimal levels – fifteen, at the most, before being Chakra exhausted. On a good day, Tsunade could manage thirty with her insane Chakra Control levels. Jiraiya could manage more simply because he had more Chakra – closer to fifty. Orochimaru could only manage twenty. And this was enough to push them to Chakra Exhaustion. No one could crank out Kage Bunshin on the same level as Naruto. It was ridiculous.

"So... Until you figure out how to disarm the Fuuinjutsu on this watch, you cannot move more than five hundred metres from it, raise your hand to someone before they attack you first, cannot kill, and cannot take your own life, is that correct?" Tsunade asked, spinning the pocket watch around her finger, mind already going to all the delicious, delicious places that a nasty little something like this could be eternally useful to the village. She didn't give a shit what Koharu and Mitokado said about security, this kid was worth over eight times his own weight in Chakra conductive Iron Country steel, no way in fucking _hell_ was she going to kill him until he proved to be a threat. And even then she would only kill him _after_ that had ripped everything of use out of his mind.

Hotaru nodded, "That is the long and short of it. However, I should be able to crack it within the week, shorter if I use Kage Bunshin and don't have to worry about interruptions. I have both parts of the sequence now. It won't be too difficult," he promised firmly, staring the woman directly in the eye. It was one of the things that Tsunade liked about this brat. He was not only intelligent, down to earth, and very much a 'just get on with it' type of person, but he was also utterly no-nonsense and loyal to a fault. Plus, he wasn't a pervert. Unless you counted his feelings for Naruto, but those were a lot purer than Kakashi had been insinuating – with that disgustingly perverted eyebrow waggle.

She nodded and handed the watch back after she had wrapped it back up in the cloth. "You'll be on attachment with Naruto then," she declared, knowing that if there was even the smallest chance of Hotaru being attacked if he left, there was no way Naruto would abandon him to go haring off to the frontlines. And with Hotaru unable to fight back, going to the front would be suicide, and Naruto knew it. He would never risk the Fuuinjutsu prodigy like that. She would have to make sure Iruka played on those heart-strings if need be. Anything to keep them both safe in the up coming conflict. "Things are delicate right now," she began before hesitating as she rethought her plan – thankfully Ibiki stepped in before her pause became suspicious.

"With the five Nations joining forces against Akatsuki, we will need as much in the way of aid as possible. Naruto was set to go on a training mission with the Hachibi Jinchuuriki at a remote island location in Kumo. While there he was to study the ecology of the island, see if the animals there were likely to be a threat should they be tamed by Kumo in any fashion, and take advantage of the Hachibi's knowledge on controlling the Bijuu within. You'll be joining him and seeing if any of the creatures there could work as effective substitutes for some of the ingredients needed for your Potions, and to also act as a suppressant should the taming attempts on the Kyuubi fail. In short, you have a two pronged mission of information retrieval and back-up support," the Torture and Interrogation expert bullshitted expertly on the spot.

The lot of them had already come to the conclusion that if Miura knew of the real reason they were sending Naruto away with the Hachibi, he would tell him. Orders or not. Hence why they widened the umbrella of false information to include him in a way that would not only be useful to the village, but not arouse the frightfully intelligent teenager's suspicion.

"Understood. When do we leave?" Hotaru asked, already calculating how much time he would have to get food, get clothes (he needed to buy new ones, and get a replacement Hitai ate, not to mention weapons, scrolls, brushes, inks, he had quite a large shopping spree ahead of him), visit the bath house and get some sleep before having to be up the next morning.

"The ship leaves from Nami tomorrow at ten-hundred. You will be expected at the dock by oh-nine hundred," Shikaku detailed, handing over a Mission Scroll with a customary light blue band, dictating it to be an S-ranked mission. "You may inform Naruto and your escort about your mission, but not the Kumo nin themselves. If they discover it, there will be no repercussions, but do be aware that their days of Kekkei Genkai theft are not entirely behind them. And they have made moves on previous members of the Uzumaki Clan," he warned grimly.

Hotaru nodded and tucked the scroll away before bowing to all assembled and darting out. He had a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it in.

**XIX.**

Hotaru hummed as he worked.

The ship had set off from Nami in relatively good weather as they moved up the coast, by-passing Yu no Kuni and up into Kaminari no Kuni, following the coast-line north. The plan was to then split off and head to the island. In all, it wasn't a long journey if they caught the right current. Three days roughly. Naruto was excitedly explaining what the Toad Sages told him to their ANBU guard, a young man by the name of Yamato whom had apparently worked with Naruto and Sakura before now. He was their mission head and Naruto's primary support as an ANBU operative with the rare and very much valuable Kekkei Genkai of Mokuton, able to suppress Kyuubi's chakra. Hotaru had kept a very close eye on any Kumo nin who paid him too much attention.

Maito Gai and Aoba-senpai were currently below deck, the Taijutsu specialist was horribly, horribly sea sick, while Aoba was their only trained medic and trying to do his best to stop the poor man from doing himself harm from violent vomiting.

For the last two days, Hotaru had been stretched out on deck surrounded by books and scrolls, lying on his stomach and working. Day and night. He wouldn't go below deck for love, nor money. Even Naruto had tried to talk him into going below deck to sleep – but being cooped up in Grimmauld Place and Hogwarts Castle had afflicted Hotaru with a rather bad case of claustrophobia. He refused and merely curled up under a blanket, using one of his scrolls as a pillow and Yuki nesting beside him – if it rained, which it had once or twice, she would stretch a wing over him so he wouldn't have to go back inside. The Owl, like Hotaru, was decked out in some new gear. A proper saddle for one, and some _very_ nasty looking claws and armour. It was then she revealed that she was from the Kaminari no Kuni Battle Owl Summons, but she refused to leave Hotaru, and thus cut herself off from the Summoning contract.

Still, aside from his refusal to sleep inside, Hotaru had made frightening headway in his breaking of the Rune sequences. Umehito, the ship's captain, had taken one look at the Fuuinjutsu notes Hotaru had to one side and blanched so rapidly that someone asked if they were under attack. He had waved it off but to the Konoha nin, it was obvious now that the attending Kumo Ninja were being more wary of Miura Hotaru than they were of Uzumaki Naruto – the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.

They didn't quite get it, because there were very few of them who remembered just _whom_ Miura Hotaru was. His disappearance had been overshadowed by Uchiha Sasuke's defection so completely that many were still under the mistaken impression that the Fuuinjutsu prodigy revealed in the Chuunin selections that turn over was hidden away deep within the bowels of the R&D department. With the exception of Tenzou, Gai, and Naruto, every other Konoha nin on the ship had no idea why the Kumo ninja were being so careful and wary around the weakest and biggest unknown amongst them.

To Tenzou, who had only read the boy's old file, he could understand why most Konoha nin were dismissing him as a threat.

All he had done was read, and write, since he got on the ship. And he was hardly a physically intimidating specimen. Barely 5'0" in height, Tenzou knew Kunoichi taller and younger than him. His hair was roughly the same length and consistency as a Hyuuga – so long, and silky – but several shades darker and pulled back into a plain horse-tail. Porcelain white skin from lack of sunlight, so clearly he must not get out to train much. And his clothing didn't much help him. He wore a simple old fashioned black yukata shirt that the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans used to favour, the tie around his waist had a pair of back-packs, and about six scrolls clipped on – honestly, he should have looked over burdened, but somehow he managed. Dark brown over large trousers tucked into a set of black sandals. Sandals with Fuuinjutsu inscribed onto the straps and soles.

He didn't _look_ threatening. By any stretch of the imagination – even the Shinobi's.

But Tenzou damn well _knew_ the boy was a force to be reckoned with. His Fuuinjutsu skills alone boggled his mind, it was like looking at a younger more bitter Temarei-san with a much higher drive to get shit done. Temarei-san was not like the Nara clan, who were highly intelligent, but also very logical and thought in chess terms. Temarei had the intelligence, he had the imagination, and he could motivate himself to some extreme highs. He worked hard.

But he looked like your typical lazy Nara next to his student who worked with just as much, if not more, furore than Naruto.

Then something happened that cemented the acknowledgement that Miura Hotaru was more dangerous than he looked, or perhaps even more dangerous _because_ of how he looked, in _everyone_.

"Prepare to make landfall," Umehito announced, stepping out onto the deck.

One of the Ninja exclaimed that he could see the island and immediately everyone was clamouring at the railings to get a glimpse. Tenzou glanced over at Hotaru who was beginning to pack up his scrolls but still pondering over a little note book and chewing idly on his pencil in thought.

Then the island came into sight and... well... Only the Forest of Death came close in all honesty.

"P-paradise?" Naruto muttered, no doubt remembering the Toad Sage's words.

"It's like Konoha's Forest of Death, though I guess ours is a little extreme," Umehito observed with a goodnatured chuckle. "It's perfectly safe. The animals are docile so long as you don't provoke them. There's just one thing..."

"What is it?" Tenzou asked warily as Hotaru moved to join them. He had to be careful of both of them, Shikaku had quietly pulled him aside earlier before they got onto the ship and told him that, as of right now, both were considered on the same level as National Treasures, to be protected at all costs. Given how Naruto held the Kyuubi, and Hotaru seemed to be the heir to Sage arts that made Jiraiya look like a dabbling child, on top of everything he brought back from the other world, and his Fuuinjutsu skills... yeah, he could understand.

"On this shore there's -

"O- Octopus arms!" Naruto exclaimed, spotting a large set of tentacles rising up from the water behind them as Umehito spoke. "OOOOOI, OCTOPUS! SHOW ME THE WAAAAAAY!" the blond cried, rising his arms up in an ecstatic wave to get the creature's attention. If Hotaru didn't know better, he would say the blond was _actually_ sparkling.

"N-Naruto..." Tenzou began, feeling a twist in the pit of his stomach, "That's... **A SQUID!**" he bellowed.

"IT'S HERE! TH-THIS IS THE THING I WAS JUST ABOUT TO TELL YOU TO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR, AND NOW IT'S HERE!" Umehito wailed, scrambling backwards on his backside in terror.

"_PROTEGO!_" Hotaru's voice rang out powerfully as a large orange shimmering dome encased the ship as one of the tentacles descended down and crashed onto it, pummelling the barrier uselessly.

The ninja turned.

Miura Hotaru was stood on the deck of the ship, arm out stretched with a strange polished black wooden stake clutched between his fingers, books and scrolls held securely against his chest as he frowned mildly up at the giant squid. "I really don't appreciate interruptions," he muttered unhappily with Yuki stood behind him, glaring at the squid with liquid golden eyes.

Just then, the squid was crushed up against the barrier and violently wrenched away, "**YO, SQUID, YOU BETTAH GET BACK TO YO' PLACE, 'FORE MAH BOOT LEAVES A SKID MARK ON YO' FACE!**" roared an odd horned creature with... tentacles also. Hotaru sniffed quietly about his being late but maintained the barrier even as the Kumo nin cheered for their comrade. "**YOU'RE LATE, YOU TOOLS, AN' FOOLS!**" he announced.

**XX.**

For the first day they were there, Hotaru mainly kept to himself, sat cross legged in the forest working on his Runic sequence. He was so close he could practically _taste_ it. He ignored the Hachibi Jinchuuriki has he wrestled with his animal friends, absently patting a rather shy seeming armadillo when he tried to stick his nose into his business. Unless the Hachibi wanted to speak with him, Hotaru had more important things to do like regaining his combat effectiveness.

"Yo, what choo workin' on?" Speak of the devil.

Hotaru looked up into the reflective dark shades of the Jinchuuriki, "My freedom," he admitted quietly before getting to his feet, "I'm sorry for not introducing myself earlier, Killer-san. I am Miura Hotaru, Naruto's roommate and his partner for our mission here. Thank you for hosting us," he recited politely, closing his notebook and bowing to the older Shinobi.

Bee waved away the formalities, lifting a fist, "You've gotta start a greeting, bump fists with me, and give me a beat!" he exclaimed grinning at the smaller male.

Hotaru straightened and eyed his hand with some trepidation, "I... I'm sorry but I've got zero musical talent. Um, '_Star light, star bright, first star – I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, Have the wish – I wish tonight_'?" he recited awkwardly flushing in embarrassment as he knocked fists with the older man. "It was something a friend taught me a while ago," he admitted with a fond smile as he thought of Luna. She had stopped him from going insane in that school. She taught him how to sing, a few children's rhymes and tales.

The Kumo ninja grinned and pulled back, hands going behind his head in a very familiar motion. "Naw, s'cool. So you can't rhyme? That ain't a crime. Just nod to the rhythm, and I'll carry the line!" the Jinchuuriki rapped with a friendly grin that brought an answering laugh from the kid who's heart felt so heavy with guilt and sadness for shit that weren't supposed to be his problem. "So, what's your deal, I can't cook meals, but maybe I can reveal an escape wheel." Unlike the other kid, this one didn't think badly of his rhymes, or of rhyming in general. He quite liked music, even if he wasn't very good at it. The flow was good, but he just didn't have a beat, or a line.

Hotaru stared a moment, perplexed before smiling a little, guessing that he wanted to help, or at least hear an explanation. "Um, yeah. Unless I figure out a way to break it, I can't fight, or protect anyone," he admitted quietly, cracking open the notebook, letting Bee get a glimpse of what was inside. He had to whistle, knowing the kid was smart just from bumping fists, but to actually _see_ it was just as amazing. He pointed to a few symbols, "See these? This one here is the Mother rune. It spawns all of these parent runes here which control the set carved on my back. They all link and protect and support the mother rune, I need to figure out a way of collapsing the whole thing at once without causing a feedback discharge that will basically kill me," he explained dragging a finger across the inscribed runes on the page. "I think I've got it. I just need to finalise my calculations before I move ahead. It works like Fuuinjutsu's White Rhino, but in reverse and from the West summit. I need to break each connection in that sequence for the feedback discharge to actually destroy itself and collapse the whole sequence in one fell swoop," he explained, turning a page and comparing the not very familiar, but recognisably high level Fuuinjutsu array to the Runes on the other page, showing the process he planned on using to break it down.

In the margins beside it was the list of mathematics and, while Bee was no whizz with the numbers, it didn't look wrong, at any rate. He grinned, "Looks like you got a plan, so dun' turn inta a strawman, chuck yer fear inna can and show 'em who's tha man!" he told the younger Ninja, clapping him in the back and sending him sprawling on the dirt.

**XXI.**

"Taru?" Naruto asked, hesitantly stepping into the clearing where old man Bee was with his bestfriend. Hotaru was still furiously scribbling away but there was a fierce light of satisfaction and glee in his eyes, he must have made a break through. Old man Bee though... he was looking at Naruto much more speculatively than before and, as much as Naruto wanted him to acknowledge him... he needed his bestfriend more than that right now.

Hotaru looked up and immediately the smile dropped from his mouth, he almost tossed aside his notebook as he got to his feet and made his way over. "What's wrong?" he asked softly gently pulling the blond away somewhere more private next to the coast.

Naruto was quiet as they sat on one of the spikes jutting out over the ocean. Hotaru didn't push him, just held his hand and watched the waves, providing the same silent support he always had. His face screwed up a tad.

"Do I treat you badly, Taru? Do you hate me, cause I can't return your feelings, cause I like Sakura-chan more?" he finally asked miserably. He squeezed his eyes shut, those poisonous words from his darker half chewing away at his brain. It kept spitting horrible things at him, about how he did nothing but hurt his bestfriend who had stood by them all these years, protected them as best he could even though he was tiny and not as powerful. How if it had been him he would have made sure Hotaru had never been taken away, and he would have been taken care of.

Naruto stiffened when he felt Hotaru's arms wrap around him.

"I could never hate you, Ruto," he promised, running his fingers through the blond's hair. "I won't lie, I used to be very jealous of Sakura-san. I felt a little abandoned when suddenly we were pulled apart at Genin selection, but... I realised recently that I don't care.

"I don't care if you love Sakura-san. If you two end up getting married and having kids. I honestly don't. Just as long as I'm still your friend. I'll come over every weekend and read stories to the children, help her with the washing up, scold you over missing paperwork and everything else. I don't care if you don't love me the same way Naruto. Just as long as you never stop being my friend. If you're happy, then so am I," he explained honestly.

It must have sounded insane to anyone but... all those years alone at Hogwarts... Hotaru came to understand that the pain of unrequited love was nothing, absolutely nothing, in the face of that crushing loneliness. He would rather die, than be alone like that again. As long as he had a place in Naruto's life, he could be content with being his bestfriend, his brother, the uncle to his children, the pain in the backside bestfriend of his wife, and the one who makes sure he gets his work done on time. Just as long as he was there.

"WAA!"

The two broke away at the sound of the ocean rising up and a human voice yelping in pain and fear.

The two of them jumped to their feet in shock, "Motoi-san!"

**XXII.**

Hotaru stared.

The so called Falls of Truth.

Half an hour ago, Naruto had conquered his darker half and stepped under the falls while Hotaru removed the Runes from his back. He hadn't told anyone what he was doing. They would have made a fuss when they had more important things to worry about. He was certain about his calculations and – what do you know, he was right. As usual.

But... those comments that Naruto made... if it was his darker half saying them, that must have meant he had thought them, somewhere, deep down inside of himself, he had been scared that Hotaru hated him because he didn't feel the same. And while Hotaru said that he couldn't, that he never could. Now there was a grain of doubt.

Because if Naruto could doubt... what did that say for him who was by far the most pessimistic of them?

He was scared. He didn't want to know how ugly he was on the inside – because he knew he was. He could be completely ruthless and cruel. His time at Hogwarts only proved how horrible a person he could be. And he didn't want Naruto to know. He didn't want anyone to know just how twisted and evil he was on the inside. The kind of evil that would have murdered everyone in that building just to prove a point, just because he could, just because he _hated_ them with every fibre of his being.

But at the same time... He had to know.

Hotaru gently hopped onto the small island and sat down. His eyes sliding shut and he took a deep, slightly shaky breath.

"I see you finally scraped up the balls, coward," sneered a familiar, if distorted voice from behind the waterfall. "If you want to pussy out, now's your chance. No? ...Heh," the voice snickered cruelly as the water parted, a familiar, yet not, face stepping out from under the falls.

Hotaru swallowed tightly, climbing to his feet as he studied the other individual. It was him, down to the very clothes they were wearing. Save... the other had his hair loose. And he was carrying a bundle of blankets. They were soaking wet from stepping under the waterfall. It was then that Hotaru realised... the other's eyes were red. Red on a black sclera.

"What is that?" he asked, staring at the bundle, was that thing moving?

"What, no hello, who, what are you?" his darker half demanded.

Hotaru flicked his eyes up to stare into those disturbing red on black ones, "You're going to be actively hostile either way, I didn't see the point," he admitted honestly.

His darker half blinked, startled for a moment, before snorting in amusement, "Can't argue with logic like that," he decided as he came closer, pulling aside the blankets so Hotaru could get a better look. And recoil in horror at the _flayed infant_ in his darker half's arms. It had remarkably reptilian features, even a set of horns on his glistening red form, it... looked like a foetus. Red and raw, slick. Like an organ removed from the body, he could see veins throbbing with the flow of blood.

"This, Hikari-mine, is our scar. Or rather, what was in it. A splinter of Voldemort's soul," his darker half explained, casually pushing the infant into Hotaru's arms. "And it's just as unhappy with it's lot in life as I am," he declared as the reptile child's eyes opened and magic lashed out.

Hotaru yelled as he felt the sinister black and crimson bands wrap around him, pulling his head down closer to the child as he tried with all his strength to throw it away.

"What the hell?" he shouted as the thing started to hiss at him, serpent tongue, Hotaru frowned in confusion when all it sounded like was incoherent hissing. He used to be able to understand this, why couldn't he anymore?

"We were never able to understand it. S'alllll been him," Yami explained, grinning viciously with his arms behind his head, watching as his light struggled with the Horcrux in his arms. "See, he wasn't meant to have happened. Accidental soul baby, heh. But y'see the funny thing is, he's got himself a unique ability. Soul Take-over. We've been talking it out. Neither of us is happy with the way you've been running the show to be honest, and this seems like the most ideal way that everyone can get what they want," Yami explained as Hotaru began to fling himself around, trying to throw the child away even as his arms strained under the force of magic slowly pulling him closer and closer.

"See, once he consumes you, I'm in charge. And what I say goes," Yami explained while Hotaru cursed and called up his Chakra, spitting fire directly into the infant's face.

It shrieked and the magic bands went lax for all of a split second, long enough for Hotaru to slip free and fling the child away.

"ARE YOU FUCKING RETARDED?" the lighter of the pair roared, making the darker blink and lean back. "WE ARE ONE IN THE SAME! THAT THING EATS ONE OF US, WE BOTH DIE! THERE IS NO 'IN CHARGE' WHEN ONE OF THOSE THINGS EATS A SOUL BECAUSE IT DOESN'T JUST EAT HALF OF IT! WE'D DIE AND BECOME LITTLE MORE THAN A MEAT SUIT!" he yelled. "God DAMN, I didn't think I could be this fucking stupid in _any_ life!"

"Hey!" Yami snarled, scowling darkly.

Light!Hotaru scowled and pointed a finger directly in his face, "Idiots have no right to speak! Shut up," he snarled coldly, and then regretted it promptly when an odd expression of hurt flashed across his darker half's face. He sighed, deflating as his anger fizzled out, and ran a hand through his fringe, "Okay, a bit harsh." He ignored the muttered retort of 'y'think' from his other, and sat on the stone island. "Maybe... just naïve," he decided thoughtfully.

This was supposed to be his other half, his darker side, the subconscious thoughts and feelings he kept hidden away. The... Yin to his Yang. Or was it the Yang to his Yin? He would figure it out later, not important right now. But either way, this was his opposite. So... It wasn't all that surprising if he was trusting and naïve in a way that Hotaru had never allowed himself to be. Or easily hurt as he couldn't afford to be in Konoha. It would mean he was a lot more emotional and...

Hotaru looked at the quietly seething figure stood in the water.

...holding a lot of the angry resentment that Hotaru had pushed aside.

"Come out of the water. We don't know if that thing can swim," Light!Hotaru told him.

"What, scared it'll eat us?" Dark!Hotaru sneered, folding his arms petulantly. Light!Hotaru frowned a little in confusion before it hit him – Dark!Hotaru was proud. He had more pride than common sense, a trap Hotaru had never let himself fall into before now because... he... just didn't. It seemed stupid to put your pride higher than your self-preservation but... "Feh, pussy. We're no way one in the same. I'm better than you," his Darker half sneered, kicking the water in disgust.

Hotaru frowned at that, he wasn't the one making such a disgustingly poor tactical move based on something as stupid as pride, "What's that supposed to mean?" he growled, climbing to his feet.

Dark scoffed, "Thanks to you we lost two years against _civilians_ armed with _sticks_. Not a single ounce of training between them! You're pathetic! It's that simple! A coward who sits on the sidelines doing fuck all while your bestfriend gets spat on and has shit thrown at him! You didn't even try to stand up to those idiots in the village!" he shouted while Hotaru scoffed.

"It was more complicated than that, and you know it," he retorted flatly.

"It didn't have to be, _you_ made it complicated!" Dark snapped, "What's so complicated about standing up for Naruto, huh? Or did you just not care enough? Just like you didn't fucking care enough to fight for him when that pink haired banshee appeared in our lives!"

Light huffed, "Why don't you go and choke on a dick, huh? If we started attacking the civilians it would have made our situation worse. Forget getting over-priced for food, they would just refuse to sell to us, and there would be nothing Sarutobi could have done because within the Merchant Guild's laws. They have free reign if we prove to be disruptive or violent. We would end up having to dig through trash for food – which would make it only too easy for some shit head to poison it knowing full well we would eat it anyway because we were _that_desperate. Think a little would you? That's best case scenario. Worst case is that we're hauled up in front of the Council to answer for our crime, Naruto gets branded unstable and a menace and gets taken away for reeducation, or reprogramming, turned into little better than an emotionless drone, and we're quietly executed as a bad influence on the Jinchuuriki, or a potential traitor or even an enemy nin plant.

"As for Sakura-san... I cared enough to let go," he stated softly, hands fisting. "He loves her. He would be happier with her. As long as he's happy, I'm content with being his brother."

Dark sneered, kicking a wave of water over his Light, "So self-sacrificing, so disgustingly spineless," he scoffed, "We've never seen him as just a brother. Never. You've just been too much of a chicken shit to do anything about it! Grow a fucking pair!"

Light's eyes narrowed a split second before he shot forward, tackling Dark aside, black and crimson magic lashing at the air where he'd been a split second earlier.

"Look out!" the two of them hit the water and rolled. "We can talk about this later when that thing isn't trying to eat us from the ankles up," the lighter half of them declared.

Dark shoved him away, "No, we can fucking talk about it now! Or I can beat the truth into you! Face facts, Hotaru, you're just not fucking good enough! All these years, you've never felt you were worth a fucking thing to anyone! News flash, _you're right!_ I'm the only one worth a damn thing in this life! I'm the one that's stopped us from going insane in that goddamn castle! I'm the one that's kept us sane while we went running through the Fae Paths!" He grabbed his light by the throat and pulled him face to face, "I'm better than you because I never fucking gave up."

"Fine, yes, okay, you're better!" Hotaru snapped, wrapping his arms around his darker half and leaping for the stone island as the water beneath them exploded upwards. "We'll argue about this later once that _thing_ is dead!" he snapped as they landed and stepped back from one another.

With a very put upon snarl, dark ran through the hand seals for a Wind technique while Hotaru went through one for fire. The death shriek of the Horcrux tore through their mind scape as the water around them boiled and turned to steam. As with most things in the life of a Ninja, the simplest solution is often the most effective, and without fanfare or acknowledgement of the parasite's death, beyond waiting until it's broiled corpse was floating on the water's surface, the two of them went straight back to arguing.

"I'm not going to take advantage of my bestfriend!" Light!Hotaru shouted, "What is _wrong_ with you? Face facts and accept the fact that he made his choice abundantly clear three years ago!"

Dark!Hotaru scoffed, "Yeeeeah," he drawled sarcastically, "Because an emotionally compromised thirteen year old boy who's just had his Teammate ran a hand through his lung is capable of thinking rationally! Because you know exactly what you want at thirteen and have the emotional and mental maturity to make those decisions!"

"We did," Light!Hotaru retorted. "Why won't you just face it? Naruto doesn't love us. He never will."

"How would you know, you never even _tried_ to change his mind! This is real life, shit-stain! It doesn't work like Azami's dumbass romance novels! You've gotta work for your fucking happy ending! Stop sitting there and whining about your situation and fucking try changing it!" his Darker!Half roared grabbing his shoulders and shaking him roughly. "Damn, and you call me an idiot," he muttered, banding his arms around his light in a tight hug.

"Did you mean what you said earlier... that we were one in the same?" dark asked quietly, feeling his light's arms come up around him.

"Eh? Yeah. You are me. I am you. I pushed you away because I was scared of what I would see. I know... I know I'm not a good person. I was scared that I would be worse than even I thought I was," he admitted quietly.

Dark smiled a little sadly. Even now, even after nearly getting them killed, his idiot light was talking as if they were the same person, not even a difference in nouns to signify they were two entities instead of just one. He had been accepted entirely, before they had even begun to argue about it.

"You're an idiot, you know," he told his light as he felt his grip on his self-hatred fade. "Be more selfish. Or we're going to end up dying old and alone."

_**000**_

**Okay, I'm cutting there. I know it's a rip off, but this is an **IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTE** so please don't skip it.**

**Given how close the manga is to the end, I've made the decision to set this as a four shot (With an epilogue after), mainly because you've waited long enough for the third piece, but also because I want to include the ending of Naruto itself in the chapter. Thanks for sticking with me guys. 8DDD**

**I'll be writing chapter four as the manga chapters come out so you'll be getting the final product as soon as possible. As for why I stopped here...**

**Well, each chapter has been a stage of Naruto and Hotaru's relationship, hasn't it?**

**C1 was childhood. C2 was coming to terms. C3 is acceptance – or in Hotaru's case resignation. And C4... C4 is, for lack of a better word, ATTACK!**

**Dark has a point in that Hotaru can't sit back and let the world carry on. He has to make his own miracle. So if he wants to win Naruto's heart, he's going to have to make some effort toward it. So far, all the reviewers have been on Hotaru's side and shouting down Naruto, but as someone who has been on the receiving end of an Unrequited Love Interest from someone I treasure dearly as a friend, I can tell you that it is ****not**** an easy place to be. Naruto's doing his best, bless 'im, but Hotaru is actively shooting himself in the foot with Naruto because he's not telling him when his behaviour is out of order, he just accepts it. So yeah, please be a little kinder to Naruto and put yourselves in his shoes. Your best friend is lusting after you, but you're not gay, and you have someone you like. **

**Awkward to say the least.**


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